"This is unbelievable," my eyes quickly scanned over the laptop reading all the evidence Pepper provided for us. "Coulson…"
I trailed off as I looked up at my handler. He was standing behind me, eyes scanning the documents on the screen. The video of Tony Stark behind held for ransom was bad enough. The translated version of it being proof that Obadiah Stane that paid for the hit on him nearly made me lose my lunch. This was so much more than any of us anticipated. Digging further into the files brought up everything. Weapons shipments, invoices, encrypted emails between Stane and a group called Ten Rings. It was the same group Natasha and Jared heard whispers about back in Afghanistan. That was all overshadowed by the fact Stane was trying to make a mechanical suit. Apparently just like Stark had used to escape captivity. But Stark didn't finish at that. He'd been building new and better suits over the last few months while he was out of the public eye. Leave it to someone like Tony Stark to build himself a flying weapons suit. I'm sure SHIELD was going to be salivating about the prospect of getting their hands on that kind of tech.
"Ok," Coulson tapped his fingers against his mouth. "I'm going to take some agents in to arrest Stane. Kari, you can stay back here and work surveillance. Hack into everything around Stark Industries. I want it all. Traffic camera, private surveillance. You name it, I want it."
My fingers hovered above the keyboard. I looked back at Coulson who'd turned to coordinate with another agent. The SHIELD office here in Malibu was fairly small, But a few field agents were available and all waiting Coulson's orders. There was a larger office in LA, about a 45 minute drive from here. They were on standby for back if needed.
"Umm Sir?" I said timidly. Coulson was neck deep in conversation and he didn't hear me. Pepper looked over at me though. This was the first time she'd been silent in the last hour.
"Coulson?" I tried again.
Coulson continued to talk with the other agents, discussing the plans to breech and contain Stane. Pepper put in that she could easily get them into the facility. However she wasn't sure if her access was going to work. I watched the conversation bouncing between people with no one paying attention to me.
"Coulson," I raised my voice and added a bit more force behind it. There we go. He glanced over at me with an irritated look.
"You brought the wrong team member to hack anything," I said quickly before I got into trouble for interrupting him. "Do you want me to ring someone at the Hub and get it up for you?"
Coulson stared at me like I'd just grown another head.
"No that'll take too much time," Coulson said with a shake of his head when he finally spoke. "Shit. How can you not know how to hack something?"
"I can take the computer apart and put it back together," I gave an apologetic shrug. "Sorry Coulson. I must have missed the course on breaking into security systems."
Pepper managed to politely cover her laugh. The other agents not so much. But now I had a bit more attention on me. Coulson hadn't introduced me to the other agents. I'd basically been pushed down in front of the computer to bring up all the information Pepper had on the flash drive.
"Your Dad is one of the best hackers we have in SHIELD," Coulson looked flabbergasted as he tried to process what I was saying. I didn't know that. But I wasn't surprised. Dad was a smart person. It was always a bit of a joke that I had to get my brains from somewhere. It was little surprise he could hack into anything he felt like. No wonder Jared always got into trouble for all the porn on his computer when we were teenagers.
"Apparently having a daughter who can shoot just about anything in many creative ways, he didn't feel the need to add to my arsenal of things to get into trouble with," I gave Coulson a small smile. "Besides, you've seen how slow I type."
My typing speed would lucky to be about 30 words a minute. Natasha's fingers were a blur when she typed. Clint was only a margin behind her. It irritated me to no end how they could both type without looking at the screen. Then the way they both sat there smirking as it took me at least 20 minutes longer than them to finish mission reports. It drove me 20 different types of insane when they did it.
Coulson looked at me carefully. I just steadily held his gaze. His face gave nothing away to his thoughts right now. I could easily sit here and run communications if someone could get me into all the cameras Coulson wanted for eyes. I'm sure if I could get a hold of Natasha she'd even help me do it, rather than going through the official channels.
"Agent Coulson if I can be of any help," Pepper spoke up. "I have a way to help Agent Lyngley with what she needs."
"Do it," Coulson nodded before turning to the other agents. At the mention of my last name, a lot more curious looks were getting thrown my way. "Everyone I need weapons and ready to leave in 20. Make it happen. Miss Potts?"
Pepper was already typing away on her phone. She put it down on the desk next to me, on speaker.
"JARVIS, can you help Agent Lyngley with bringing up all surveillance around Stark Industries," Pepper asked politely.
"Certainly Miss Potts," a crisp British accent answered promptly. It sounded a little too off to be a real person. But it was pretty damn close.
I raised my eyebrow at the phone. I'd heard of Tony's AI that basically ran everything in his personal home. But to actually be speaking, if you could call it that, to him was a different matter. As if my job wasn't weird enough.
A few seconds later the computer came to life with live feed of everything that was asked for. All in neat folders, all the different views from the Stark Industries security feed. Right through to the traffic cameras within a 10 block radius. All within an easy click for me.
"Thats so cool," I grinned at the screen quickly clicking through the various cameras. "I need this to run the camera in the mens shower back at HQ."
"There is no camera in the mens shower at HQ," Coulson rolled his eyes. He hesitated before upholstering his sidearm. The standard issue Glock 17 was his preferred weapon. My eyebrow lifted in surprise first, then my eyes went back up to Coulson.
"Just in case," Coulson's jaw tightened for a second. "Can I…"
"You can trust me," I reassured Coulson before he could finish. "I'm fine Coulson. Just be careful?"
There was a lot more emotion behind my last little plea than I meant for it to be. First Clint, Natasha and Jared had gone off on a mission without me. Now Coulson. I was feeling a little vulnerable sitting at the desk behind a computer about to be left by myself.
"We'll be fine," Coulson patted my shoulder. "Sit tight. Be good."
"I will," I glanced down to Pepper's phone. "JARVIS and I will go about installing that camera in the mens shower in the STIRKE locker room."
"Your idea of good is starting to be corrupted by your teammates," Coulson hand squeezed my shoulder a little tighter. "Channel 7."
"Channel 7," I echoed with a nod. There was a communication earpiece already sitting on the desk ready for me.
"Behave," Coulson warned. His tone just made me smile instead of feeling warned. There wasn't much I could get into trouble with here anyway. Even if I could get a camera in the mens shower in the STRIKE locker room, I really didn't want to see most of them naked.
Pepper was watching our small exchange with curiosity all over her face. She didn't get to ask any questions. Coulson turned to her and gestured towards the door. I watched them both leave with my apprehension growing even more at their retreating figures.
Ok. I could do this. I shifted in the chair and pulled it in a little closer to the desk. I pulled up the security cameras for the entry for Stark Industries. There wasn't much going on. It was late evening and most people had left for the night. I fitted the earpiece and waited for it to crackle to life. Everything was so quiet with just me in the room now.
"Do you require me for anything else Agent Lyngley?" JARVIS' voice made jump in surprise. I half fell off the chair in my surprise at the voice coming from the phone. I'd completely forgotten about the AI being there. Well, kind of. As there as an AI could be.
"No, thank you JARVIS," I hauled myself back into the chair and stared at the phone. The screen had locked so I tentatively tapped on the home button. A photo of Pepper and Tony came back onto the screen. It was a lovely photo. They both looked very happy and carefree in the obvious mock selfie. It made me smile and feel sad at the same time. Riley had a photo just like that of us on his phone as his lockscreen. The thought of Riley made my throat constrict and tears spring to my eyes. I quickly pushed those thoughts away, wiping over my face hastily. I couldn't think about that now.
"If you need me, just double tap on the home button," JARVIS voice came through the phone. Despite hearing it before, it made me jump again. The screen lit up briefly as JARVIS spoke through it.
The phone screen faded to black and I was left alone with nothing but my thoughts.
Hollywood had a lot to answer for. Being a spy or any kind of agent was always painted as a glamorous and action filled life. It was always a series of action. Never any waiting around. Nothing was ever boring. Yet here I was. A trained SHIELD agent, part of STRIKE Team Delta, stuck in front of a computer. Whats more there wasn't even any action happening. Just people milling around, going about their daily routines like the world wasn't in peril. Even the communications were quiet. I could hear everything through Coulson. But everything else was a blank. I tapped my fingers against the table, idly flicking through the windows.
This went on for another half an hour. It wasn't until Coulson planted a small bomb on a door for access that I sat up a little straighter.
"Yay," I muttered as I watched the security feed.
The small explosion made easy work of the doors locking mechanism. Just as Coulson breeched the door, all the cameras went black. The comms in my ear went eerily silent after all the noise of the last half hour.
"Shit," I smacked the side of the laptop. Not that it did anything to help. I reached up and opened up the comminations link. "Coulson, do you copy?"
I was met by static.
"Uh oh," I frantically scrolled through all the windows. I had nothing. Absolutely nothing within a 10 block radius of Stark Industries. What the fuck?
"JARVIS?" I double tapped the home button on Pepper's phone. "What happened to the feed?"
"It appears to be a security shut down at the source," JARIVS sounded apologetic. "I'm rebooting the system now, but it appears to be a hardware problem."
"Fuck."
There was no other word for it. What the hell was I meant to do now? Someone cutting the security feed could only mean a lot of trouble for the team on the ground. I didn't even know what to do in this situation. I fished my phone out of my pocket and rang the first person I knew who could help. Or at least knew the protocol for what to do in this situation. Coulson's phone was sitting on the table across from me. So there went my first point of contact. So I rang the only person I knew who'd be able to help me right now, and could rely on them to actually answer the phone.
My Mom was not going to be happy about me being back at work. I grimaced as I found her work number and hit the numbers on the screen.
"Agent Lyngley," Mom answered within 2 rings.
"Hi Mom," I tried to sound casual. I slammed the laptop shut and fiddled with the Glock on the table. "Can you give me a hand with something?"
"Sure," Mom's tone was instantly suspicious.
"So, hypothetically, if I was running surveillance for a mission and everything went dark, what would the protocol be?"
"You mean besides me killing whoever cleared you to be in the field," Mom's voice was dust dry. She was not amused at all. "You would generally call for back up."
The long pause made me know exactly what Mom was about to say next.
"And you'd go in while waiting for backup," Mom sounded very begrudging to be handing that piece of information over. "Kari, where are you?"
"In Malibu," I cringed. "Coulson had an appointment with Tony Stark today. Things kind of went to shit."
The heavy sigh from Mom was painful. I could feel her disappointment and being pissed off through the phone. Poor Coulson was really going to wear it when he got back. I'm sure I wasn't going to get off lightly either seeing it was my idea to ask to tag along.
"Nearest office to you is LA," Mom finally said after a few moments pause. "Go in for backup, I'll ring the office and let them know you'll need a team to come in. Better safe than sorry. I'll patch it through to the Hub as well."
"Thanks Mom, I'm heading to Stark Industries," I stood up and grabbed Coulson's Glock. I was so not dressed for this. But my suit and heels would have to do for this. Natasha often smugly claimed she could run in 4 inch heels as easily as she could barefoot. I'd yet to test that theory on me. Worse case scenario I'd just kick the damn things off.
"Be careful," Mom actually sounded worried. "Are you armed?"
"Yep," I didn't want to add Coulson had left it here for me. It was just another thing Mom would add to her shit list.
"Ring me when you're done," Mom hung up before I could get another response in.
Right. Time to work for a living. I could deal with Mom's wrath later on. I hurried down to the garage. Thankfully being a small SHIELD office, the keys were all in an unlocked cabinet. It wasn't far to Stark Industries, but I don't think me running there was going to be a good idea. Neither was trying to use my abysmal lock picking skills that Clint had been trying to teach me for ages. It didn't take long to get into the nice Audi and heading down the highway.
It wasn't until I was halfway to Stark Industries I realised what could have just made my job a lot easier. I should have grabbed Pepper's phone so I had the help of JARVIS. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Goddammit. How could I be so stupid? Well, fuck it. I was just going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Shoot shit. At least Clint would be proud of me for that line of thinking.
I pulled up at Stark Industries just in time to see something shoot into the sky in a blue of red and gold. A second behind it, what looked to be some sort of suit taking off after him.
"What the fuck?" I gaped up at the sky. I'd never seen anything like that. I knew there'd been some pretty impressive developments in drone technology lately. But whatever was flying up there looked more like 2 men in suits.
"Agent Lyngley!" Pepper's panicked voice brought me back down to Earth. She was rushing down the stairs, taking care so she didn't trip on her own enormous heels.
"Miss Potts," I turned to face her. She looked terrified. I could see her hands shaking from a distance. "What happened?"
"Obadiah's gone insane," Pepper's eyes trailed up towards the sky. "He built a suit, I don't know what happened to the agents."
"Ok just stay here," looking to the entrance of the building it was pretty easy to follow the trail of destruction. Heres hoping that backup was going to come quickly. Whatever was happening in the sky would have to wait. Pulling the Glock out, I made my way into the lab. 5 steps in and I was really regretting my choice of footwear. But with the amount of broken glass around going barefoot really wasn't going to be an option.
The first agent I came across was lying face first on the floor. Thankfully still breathing, I rolled him over onto his back and gave him a none too gentle tap on the cheek. He didn't stir, not even a flutter across his face. Of course this couldn't be easy. Nothing ever seemed to be at work.
"Please don't be heavy," I pleaded with whatever higher power might be listening. I grabbed him by the arm and half picked, half dragged him back out of the building. Poor guy was going to have some glass stuck in his leg and ass. But at least he was clear.
Further inspection of the building found the other 4 agents. All unconscious, but alive. But still no sign of Coulson. By the time I'd pulled the last agent out of the building Pepper was holding her hand to her ear.
"How are you going to do that?" Pepper looked ready to panic.
Despite not knowing what was going on, I reached over and put what I hoped to be a reassuring pat on Pepper's arm. She just looked at me with wide eyes and not really seeing me. I wonder if that's what I looked like with my first few missions. Or when I was about to do something scary. If it was, no wonder it was hard for Clint and Natasha to keep a straight face around me. I inwardly scowled and made a mental note to stop looking like a startled deer in the future.
"I'm going in now," Pepper nodded at whatever she was being told. She turned to me. "Tony wants me to blow to arc reactor."
"Where's Agent Coulson?" I tried to be reassuring to Pepper. But I was starting to feel some minor panic myself. How much damage was that going to cause? I'd only read bits and pieces of the Arc Reactor when it was created. That thing had enough power to run buildings for years. It could cause city wide devastation for all I knew.
"I don't know, he went in and he hasn't come back out again," Pepper shook her head rapidly. "I haven't seen him."
"Just give me a few minutes before you blow the building up," I tried to sound as firm as possible. Only one of us could freak out right now. That couldn't be me. I had to be the strong one here. At least until I found Coulson. Or backup arrived. I'd much rather find Coulson first. At least then he could take over. Right now I was acting on impulse. I really didn't know what the hell I was doing.
Pepper nodded vigorously. She looked so lost for words right now. I ran back in as quickly as my Manolo's would take me. The lab was huge. I was going to need all the time I could to find Coulson.
I started where I found the last agent. It wasn't hard to find that. The last agent had a cut on his head which left a small stain of blood on the concrete. I stood next to the blood stain and did a full 360 turn. There were just too many places he could have gotten to. Multiple doors led off the main lab. But from what I could see they were all locked. So unless Coulson had learnt to walk through walls, they were out.
"Coulson" I called out across the empty space. The lab was completely deserted, so at least I didn't have to worry about anyone hearing me. The answering silence was deafening. "Coulson!"
A muffled groan. So soft I nearly missed it. Coming from my right. I turned on my heel and moved towards where I thought I heard the sound. It hadn't been far. Though with how quiet it'd been I could be mistaken.
"Coulson?" I called out again. I strained my ears listening for any sign of life.
Nothing. I grumbled under my breath, swearing in Icelandic as I resumed my search. My eyes scanned the left of the room which was mostly in darkness. Fumbling for my phone for a light, I tripped over something. I hit the ground, knees first, wincing as broken glass went into my knee and palms. The Glock went skidding across the ground, just out of reach.
"Motherfucker," I grumbled. I could feel blood leaking from both my hands and knees instantly. My head was so not in the game right now. Whatever I tripped over, correct whoever I tripped over, groaned and rolled over onto their back.
"Ouch," Coulson's quiet declaration made me scramble over the floor, oblivious to all the glass.
"Coulson," I gave him a gentle shake as I knelt besides him. "Come on Coulson, I need you."
My voice hitched a little at those words. This really wasn't turning out how I wanted thing to be for this mission. This was meant to be a quiet little plane trip and a nice dinner. Not dragging a team of agents out of a building and having my handler knocked out.
"Your mother is going to kill me for this," Coulson whispered.
That made me smile. If only a little bit.
"Can you sit?" I reached down and grabbed Coulson's hand. It was hard to make him out in the darkened spot, nearly squashed under some equipment. If his leg hadn't been sticking out I'd still be wandering around looking for him.
"Yep," Coulson's hand gripped mine tightly. I shifted my weight and helped pull him into a sitting position. He was half in the light now. As soon as he was sitting, Coulson winced and reached up to his head. Even in the dim light I could see the side of his head slick with blood. I was instantly checking it over, probing at it far too hard. A small bit of panic worked its way into my gut seeing Coulson hurt. I needed to make sure he wasn't going to bleed out right here. The logical part of my brain just wouldn't believe that this was nothing but a minor head wound.
"Kari!" Coulson's voice snapped me back to reality. I quickly shook my head and blinked a few time before I looked back to him.
"I'm here," I said, more to reassure myself than anything else. I was here. Back in the current moment. Coulson needed me here. Not distracted by ghosts.
"You are going to have a very long talk with Andrew as soon as we get back to DC," Coulson winced as he gripped my hand a little tighter. "I think I need one too for being stupid enough to believe nothing would happen when I let you come along."
Coulson would have guessed pretty easily what was going on in my head right then. But now wasn't the time to sit here and argue with him over it. I got to my feet, helping Coulson up as I went. He was unsteady on his feet, nearly falling straight back over again. I gripped his hand tighter and quickly threw the arm over my shoulder for support.
"Pepper has instructions to blow the building," I told Coulson as we both started to limp out. I could definitely feel the glass shards in my knees now. My feet were killing me, along with my hands.
"Good," Coulson winced as we limped along. He was leaning on me a lot heavier than I thought he would. Whatever hit him must have packed a wallop. I'd seen Coulson spar with Clint before. He could definitely hold his own. Right now it was only me supporting him that was actually keeping him on his feet. It felt like it took hours to get ourselves out of the building. The second we stepped out into the warm night air, Pepper bolted back up the stairs and into the door with a loud bang.
"Mom said she'd ring LA for backup," I sat Coulson down near where I'd left the other agents. He looked very grateful to be able to collapse onto the ground again. I quickly looked at my watch. "That was about 20 minutes ago. They should be here any second."
"Good," Coulson visibly winced as grabbed at his bleeding head. It took every ounce of self control for me not to stare at it. I just had to keep my eyes fixed on his face. That way I'd be fine. I couldn't believe my little mind trip back there. I hadn't thought about that moment at all. I didn't want to ever re-live that.
"What else do you need me to do?" I felt hopelessly and utterly lost right now.
"I'm a dead man," Coulson muttered under his breath before speaking up. "Sniper rifle in the boot of the car. Building 200 yards, 3 o'clock. I need eyes for this one."
"On it," I didn't need to be told twice. "What am I doing with it?
"Your scope can send a live feed back to base," Coulson looked pale. I didn't doubt he had one hell of a concussion. Seeing him look like he was about to pass out made me hesitate.
"Thats an order," Coulson said firmly at my hesitation. "I'm fine, just go."
Glass still stuck in my knees, I bolted to the car and found the promised sniper rifle. It was a standard issue M24. It was 15 extra pounds I wasn't expecting to be lugging around while in a suit and heels. Adrenaline kicked in as soon as it was in my hands though. Every ache and pain was quickly forgotten as I ran to the building Coulson directed me to. The only thing I could think of was that I could brag to Natasha about being able to run in heels now. The power was out in the building too, so I had to run up all 6 stories to get to the roof. Muscle memory had the rifle set up in a few seconds and me laying behind it, peering through the scope. What I saw made me pull my head back in surprise, rub my eyes and try again.
Nope, I wasn't imaging 2 men in metal suits fighting on a rooftop. It was actually happening in front of me. A second later, the larger of the 2 robots opened up to reveal Stane in it. The red suit which I should have known was Stark, now minus his helmet, stood on top of the roof a few feet away.
I could see lips moving but my abysmal lip reading skills prevented me from actually knowing what was being said. I really needed to work on that a bit more with Clint. I shook my head and focused on the task at hand. My mind was all over the place today.
A shower of bullets aimed at Stark made the glass roof collapse a few seconds later. I could make out Stark grimly hanging onto the roof support. State was turned side on to me, so I couldn't see much of what he was doing. The missile he suddenly fired, and missed, at Stark was hard to miss though.
Stane suit was in the way of me making a shot to take him out. As he raised his fist again, I quickly lined a shot up. If nothing else, the minor distraction would help Stark to get out of the way a bit more. Squeezing the trigger, the familiar feeling of everything slowing down hit me. The world dropped into slow motion as the rifle went off with a muted bang. 2 seconds later, I heard the satisfying ping of the bullet hitting metal. The shot had done nothing to the armour. Not even a dent could be seen through the scope. Suddenly the attention was on me. State whirled and faced the exact direction of me. Through the scope it felt like he was staring me down, even though he wouldn't actually be able to see me. He raised his arm.
Uh oh.
I didn't wait. No way in hell I was staying here and letting myself get blown to pieces. I abandoned the rifle and bolted as far as my legs could carry me. Behind me, the side of the building exploded into a mess of concrete. The blast was enough to knock me clean off my feet. My head hit the ground half a second later. I was out like a light instantly.
I came to with an ice pack on the side of my head, propped against a wall. A cracking headache quickly made itself known the second my eyes opened. Ouch. I gingerly reached up and touched my aching head. I winced as just touching near the source of the ache hurt like hell. At least I wasn't blown to bits. Through the blur I could make out someone in front of me. It wasn't until a light shone in my half opened eyes I actually came to properly.
"Get that fucking light out of my face," I grunted trying to swat the offending hand away. It was a feeble attempt. My hand just bounced uselessly off the arm. Whoever it was, laughed at me and the light continued in my face.
"STRIKE or Specialist?" it was a males voice. "Typical of both to give themselves a concussion and first thing they want to do is get my fucking light out of their face."
"STRIKE," I blinked rapidly and the light was gone. Instead in the dim light I could make out a SHEILD agent crouched in front of me.
"How many fingers," the agent asked holding up 3 fingers.
"3," I confirmed.
He held up 4 fingers this time.
"4," I grunted. "What happened?"
"You hit your head," the agent supplied unhelpfully. "And went skidding across the ground as well. You should have seen the amount of glass I pulled out of your knees and hands."
I looked down to my knees which had already been patched up. My hands were still bare, but at least the glass had been pulled out of them. I had a massive scrape down my right arm that was raw and weeping. My jacket was gone and my skirt was in tatters, I was missing both of my shoes. I really didn't want to look in the mirror right now.
"What happened with Stark?" I tried again, this time being more specific so I might actually get an answer.
"He's fine," the medic turned away from me slightly to rustle through a bag on the ground next to him. "Any allergies Agent Lyngley?"
"Concrete walls, they knock me right out," I said dryly. The ice pack was getting warm against my skin. I put my hand up to it and let it ice over again. It wasn't really doing anything for my headache. But at least it felt good against my skin.
"Funny," the medic rolled his eyes before turning back to me with a syringe in hand. I eyed the contents warily. Last time I'd been injected with something didn't end so well for me. It was a good thing I didn't hold a grudge otherwise Jared would be in trouble.
"Where's Agent Coulson?" I asked to take my eyes and mind off what I was assuming to me a good hit of morphine.
"Being yelled at on the phone I think," the medic shrugged. He grabbed my arm and ran an alcohol swab on the inside of my elbow. He eyed my arm before giving the veins a small poke with his finger. The more muscle I was putting on, the more my veins were starting to stand out. "When was the last time you drank something."
I scrunched up my face trying to think back on what I'd actually done today. But the likelihood of the question was that I hadn't drunk anything since I'd come into work this morning. In my moment of distraction, I felt the sharp prick of the needle sliding into my vein and something cold being injected.
"Ow," I grumbled.
"You'll thank me for it in about 5 minutes," the medic shot me a small grin. "If you have to think that hard to remember when you last drank something, it means you need some water. If you can't keep it down I'll hook up an IV line."
"I'm fine," besides my aching head and body, I didn't feel that badly off. My body had taken worse beatings than this. "I'll sit here, drink my water and behave."
By the unbelieving look the medic gave me, I had a funny feeling he wasn't going to trust me at all. But with the shredded clothes and no shoes, I wasn't about to get up and start walking around. But the medic didn't say anything else, he just left there against the wall with my thoughts. Today had turned out to be far too much action for my current state of mind. Agents milled around, no doubt a massive clean up crew already working in overdrive. I didn't recognise where I ended up, but the undamaged building in front of me still said Stark Industries. So we couldn't have been moved too far away. While checking my surroundings, the medic came back and put 2 water bottles on the ground, then left without another word.
Again I was left sitting there by myself as the world kept turning in its craziness. Everything happened in such a blur since I'd gotten in the car to come over here. I could hardly believe I'd actually managed to keep myself together throughout it all.
Months ago, I asked Natasha how she managed to lock down her emotions and just get the job done. Her response had been a shrug and her saying that when you do this job it just becomes conditional. You don't have to think about it. Everything just happens and falls into place and lets you focus on the task at hand. Maybe thats what happened today. My work mind just finally started kicking in. Or Natasha was just rubbing off on me in more ways than I ever cared to imagine. I had a feeling it more the latter than the former. Despite all my training, there were times that I still felt like the complete rookie.
"Agent Lyngley," Pepper's voice broke through my thoughts. I looked up to find her standing in front of me with a gym bag in her hands. Unlike before where she looked scared and uncertain, she now looked calm and fully in control.
"That's me," I shifted uncomfortably. My body was going to hate me in the morning. At least the headache was disappearing fast.
"I brought you a change of clothes," Pepper gave me a small smile as she held the bag up. "We look about the same size. I don't think your skirt is in any shape fit to be seen in public. They're just gym clothes, but its all clean."
"It's really not," I tugged at the shredded material. "Thank you Miss Potts."
"Pepper," she corrected as she sat the bag down next to me. "After all this, I think we can deal with being on a first name basis."
"Then its Kari for me too," I returned the smile as I climbed to my feet. I winced as every muscle in my body seemed to scream in protest at the action. But I couldn't sit propped up against the wall for the rest of the night. "Thank you so much Pepper."
"My office is untouched, you can get changed in there," Pepper offered.
"No I'm good, I don't want to be doing the walk of shame in front of 100 agents and showing off my Little Miss Naughty underwear," I should have picked up the bag up first. Now I had to bend down, slowly and painfully to pull the clothes out. My back really wasn't happy with me. It hurt more than the skin taken off my body. Just when the scar had finally faded on my leg from coming off my motorbike, I'd given it a new one.
"That is both disturbing and highly hilarious at the same time," Pepper giggled. She moved so she was shielding me from most of the public view. "But part of me also wants to know where you got them from."
"A friend brought them for me actually," I smiled in memory. Natasha had been so smugly pleased when she'd found them. The bright pink boy leg had the cartoon characters done in sequins on them. The Little Miss Naughty ones were by far my favourite. Inside the bag was a pair of 3/4 tights, a simple t-shirt and a pair of sneakers. More than enough to get me covered and respectable. I quickly pulled on the tights under my ruined skirt and swapped the blouse for the t-shirt. It's amazing what a change of clothes could do. I almost felt somewhat normal in some clean and undamaged clothes.
"Hows Mr Stark?" I asked. The question should have come up before now. I really wasn't at my brightest and best today.
"He's fine," Pepper turned so she was facing me. She almost looked exasperated. A look I'm sure she had on her face on a daily basis considering who she worked for. "As always, getting himself into major trouble and then out again. He and Rhodey have gone to the hospital. Can I get you anything else?"
A few days sleep, a bottle of scotch and as much ice cream as I could cram in sounded pretty good. But right now I wouldn't be getting any of that.
"Yeah I think I need to find Coulson," I held back my sigh.
"He's on the phone over there," Pepper pointed in the darkness. "It sounds like he's getting in trouble from someone."
I cringed. Poor Coulson was no doubt on the phone with Mom. I wanted to be far, far away from that right now. I'm sure I'd be getting a very stern lecture as soon as I had to talk to my Mom.
"Anywhere that we can get a coffee?" I changed my tactics.
"Coffee sounds amazing," Pepper's face brightened at the thought. "I always keep a stash in my office."
"Lead the way."
Pepper was right about a stash in her office. Coffee was perfect to bond over. She even had a secret chocolate stash, which we both nearly decimated. Pepper was raised in a small country town in Wyoming, an only child. She applied for Stark Industries on a whim straight out of high school. She spent a year as a general office assistant, until one day Tony had come into the office. Pepper had been busy and when Tony had started to ask for something, she simply shushed him and told him to wait his turn. Apparently Tony took a liking to her no nonsense attitude and made her PA the next day. She'd been at Stark Industries for 13 years now.
In return, I was in the middle of giving my censored version of how I joined SHIELD, when Coulson found us. He looked so relieved to see me upright and looking only a little worse for wear. Despite the stitches on the side of his own head, Coulson looked in all right shape as well.
"Coffee?" Pepper asked getting to her feet. We were both on our third. It was the only thing keeping me awake. My phone was lost somewhere along the way tonight. I had no doubt it was smashed into pieces on the rooftop.
"No, thank you," Coulson smiled as he looked between us. "Kari, we've got rooms booked at a local motel if you want to catch some shut eye. There'll be a press conference bright and early tomorrow."
"Coming," I stood up slowly. I'd lost track of time with everything happening tonight. But it was getting close to midnight now. As I got to my feet, Coulson handed me a phone.
"And you can talk to you Mom while we drive there," Coulson's innocent smile made me shudder in horror. I mouthed a good bye to Pepper. Before I could move, she jumped up and gave me a quick hug.
"Thank you for all your help," Pepper said quietly before she pulled away. "I hope we won't be strangers after tonight."
"Me too," it was so refreshing to talk to someone so normal. Well, someone who wasn't involved in SHIELD in any way shape or form. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Pepper would be needed as part of the press conference. That I knew without even asking. Coulson said a quick goodbye and I dialled Mom's number as we headed out of the building. The phone barely got halfway through the first ring before Mom picked up.
"I swore to myself I'd never say this once I found out Fury had put you in STRIKE," Mom gushed out instantly. "But for fuck sake, are you all right Kari?"
That made me falter in my step for a second. Mom never interfered with work. She rarely spoke to me about it actually. While I was sure she kept tabs on whatever missions I was doing, she stayed well out of that side of my life.
"I'm okay," I was sore, exhausted beyond belief and a little dumbstruck on how everything had turned out today. But I was okay. For the first time in a few weeks, I could actually believe those two words coming out of my mouth. It was a good feeling to have.
I just hoped nothing else would ruin that feeling. Not for another few days at least. It was nice to emerge from my fog of grief and feel like a functional human again.
"I'm okay," I repeated, this time with a smile on my face. I really meant it. The sigh of relief on the other end of the phone made me know Mom knew it too.
Authors Note.
Sorry this chapter is late everyone. I haven't been well over the last few weeks, so I didn't really have the attention span to write.
So many new reviewers and followers! I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the story. I hit over 200 followers, which I never expected to get! So thank you so much for all of your support, whether you're new or you've stuck with me throughout the whole thing. It just makes me happy that people enjoy my writing.
Until next time!