It seems this story is going to be shorter than I had hoped. Thank you to those who read, review, favorite, and have this story on alert. I have one more chapter lined up after this one and a sequel to this is lined up and ready to go!
Aria sat hunched over her workstation in the garage, finishing Tony's new phone while her brother sat on the couch adjusting the glove on his hand. The television was set on a news station reporting about attacks on a town called Gulmira. They named a group called The Ten Rings, who was responsible for driving citizens of this town out of their homes. As the report carried on with the hardships for the now displaced citizens, Aria didn't notice Tony stand. He stretched his arm out and shot out one of the lights in the ceiling.
"Tony!" She shrieked, nearly jumping a foot in the air.
He ignored her as he destroyed one of the glass walls. He preceded to to blast the remaining panels of glass, leaving the tv on as it continued to describe the situation in Gulmira.
"Tony!" Aria yelled, desperate for his attention.
Tony proceeded to stalk out of the room, returning ten minutes later wearing different clothes. Aria jumped in front of him causing him to shove her to the side.
"Hey! Tony! What are you doing? What's wrong?" She demanded, close to tears. "Just tell me what you're doing. You're scaring me."
"I'm going to take clean up my mess. I'll be back," he explained. "I promise."
Tony walked to a newly modified part of the garage and stood in the middle of it. The floor came apart and revealed robotic arms that started placing his suit on him as he stepped into the boots. As he was being screwed into his suit, Aria could only stand by and watch. She struggled to fight back the feeling that she was going to lose her brother again. With his helmet secured tightly, he took off through the tunnel leading out of the garage. His little sister stood there, unsure about what she needed to do at the moment.
"Do you know what Tony has done!?" Pepper stressfully confronted Aria who was sitting at the piano.
"He's back?" She question in return, her fingers gliding across the keys.
"Bullet holes, Aria. There were bullet holes," Pepper fumed, falling down onto the couch. "Oh, and the glass panels are shattered too."
"I was there for that. He was weird, sort of in a trance," Aria divulged.
"And you didn't stop him?" The ginger demanded.
"Like I would be able to stop him in that state. We should be thankful he isn't drinking as much anymore. Nor is he whoring around at all," She replied with a melancholy tone in her voice.
Pepper Potts stared at the young woman, worry settling in on her face, "Are you alright Aria? We've all been focused on Tony, but you were effected by his disappearance more than anyone else."
"I'm fine," she sang, matching the pitches of what she was playing.
"Well, I'm always there if you need me," Pepper stated softly.
"What are you two up to?" Tony asked, coming up from the garage.
"We are discussing your sudden vengeful personality," Aria revealed, increasing the tempo of the song.
"Instead let's go out for dinner. Chinese sound good?" Tony suggested, trying to get the conversation to go in a different direction.
"I vote Teppanyaki," Aria commented, silencing the piano. "We had Chinese last week."
"I'm going to side with Aria on that," Pepper smiled.
"I'll call Rohdey, I owe him after today," Tony added, receiving worried looks from the women.
Tony had the top half of his suit set up at his desk while Aria was finishing the software update for Tony's phone. The two were working in a comfortable silence. Aria was so absorbed in her work that she didn't realize Pepper had entered the room until her brother started talking.
"Hey, you busy? Mind if I send you on an errand" Tony greeted, moving away from the suit. "I need you to go to my office. You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests."
Aria moved away from her desk with Tony's new phone in hand. She watched as Tony handed Pepper a sleek flash drive
"This is a lock chip. This'll get you in," he explained. "It's probably under Executive Files. If not, they put it in a ghost drive, in which you need to look for the lowest numerical heading."
"What do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" Pepper inquired with a hoping of unease in her voice.
"Same drill. They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them," Tony answered, sitting at his desk.
"Tony, you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again," Pepper sighed.
Tony stared at her, contemplating what to say "There is nothing except this. There's no art opening. There is no benefit. There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else."
"Is that so? Well, then, I quit," She responded, turning to leave.
"You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction," Tony called to her. "And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"
"You're going to kill yourself, Tony. I'm not going to be a part of it," Pepper argued
"I shouldn't be alive, unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right," Tony lamented, staring down at his desk.
You're all I have, too, you know. You and Aria," She informed him, turning to the other occupant in the room and smiled.
Pepper quickly left the room, leaving the siblings alone together once more. Aria cautiously moved towards her brother. She gently laid the phone in front of him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind. He laid his head back into, enjoying the comfort of being near his little sister and having her care for him.
"Thanks for still being here kiddo," Tony murmured.
"Well, you need someone to support you in your insane ventures and ideas. Someone besides Pepper," she smiled, ruffling his hair. "I won't always be here though."
"What do you mean?" He asked, swiveling around to stare at her.
She wrapped her arms around herself and searched for the exact words she wanted to tell him. "I'm working a contract for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics. It's just implementing smart glass technology. I'll be in DC for about three months."
"But you'll come back right?" Tony questioned, looking like a lost puppy.
"Yes, I'll be back when I'm done," Aria laughed.
"When do you leave?" He asked.
"In a week. Maybe when I get back you'll actually have this place cleaned up," she jested, heading towards the stairs.
The sound of crunched glass resounded through the garage as Aria left her brother to continue tinkering with his suit. She took her time walking through the house until she reached the bathroom. Her brown hair had become greasy and tangled, the bags under her eyes had returned from her staying up late almost every night to keep an eye on her brother. Her eyes were diverted from the mirror in front of her towards her bed as the sound of her phone filled the silence.
"Hello?" Aria answered.
"Hey Aria, it's Justin. Justin Hammer," the caller responded.
"Oh hey, uh now is not a good time," she said awkwardly.
"I'll make it quick. How would you like to go out for dinner?" He asked, causing Aria's face to scrunch up in disgust.
"I wish I could, but I promised my brother I would spend time with him," she lied, hoping the conversation would end.
"Alright, well I'm busy until next week. How about then?" Hammer suggested.
"I'm going out of town next," she informed him. "How about I call you when I'm available?"
"Sounds like a plan Aria," he replied.
"Talk to you later," she told him, not giving him the chance to reply by ending the call.
"Why," she groaned, running her hand through her hair.
She dragged herself back into her bathroom and into the shower. She let the water flow down her back as she let the tension in her shoulders go.
"Hey Tony, have you seen Pepper? She should've been back by now," Aria called out.
The black pants she was wearing made her look taller, while her classic Chuck Taylor's made her look younger. She was adjusting her red, button-up blouse as she descended the stairs.
"Tony?" She asked again, discovering Tony lying motionless on the couch without his arc reactor. "What's going on?"
"It's a shame that this has to be the way you last see each other," Obadiah told her as he came up behind her.
Before Aria had the chance to respond she heard a high pitch noise. Every muscle in her body seized up, rendering her motionless. Her eyes locked onto her brother's as a pair of hands picked her up. Obadiah tossed her onto his shoulder and started towards the door.
"I never knew that she was suicidal, but I guess after finding her brother dead she lost her will to live," Obadiah called back. "It's a bit ironic she jumped off the building that held the arc reactor."