Day 20-Stark Enterprises-Pepper's POV
I stood in front of the door, pulse pounding, staring at the dark mahogany finish of the doors. I didn't know whether I could go in and face the emptiness of his office. I'd just gotten back yesterday night. I slipped in and out like a ghost, only in slacks and a blouse, with a heavy layer of makeup on, in case anybody saw me. I knew I had looked a mess. I had gone straight to my office, recoiling from the sight of the heavy double doors just down the hall from my moderately sized office. I had been glad that all was dark, with only the security lights on, as a few tears slipped from my eyes as my control started to slip.
I started to reach for the silver door handle, but pulled back at the last second and hurried back to my office and closed the door. Sinking to the ground, breathing heavily, I put my face in my hands, and tried to regain control once more. I couldn't face it.
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Day 21-Stark Enterprises-Pepper's POV
I looked down the hall at the dreaded doors. Today I would do it. I really needed to, since I had to look through some of the projects he had been considering for approval. I wielded his authority in his absence, even though officially Obadiah did, he wasn't around much. I slowly walked down the hall, my stilettos clicking loudly in the silence. The only people who worked on this floor were me, Obadiah, and Tony. All the other executives were on the floor below us.
I was in front of them now. I firmly grasped the silver handle, and pulled the door open. I quickly walked through and closed the door behind me, and locked it, before I lost my nerve. My breath caught as I looked around at the empty office, so lifeless, missing the vitality he brought to it, a twin to the house. Tony hadn't come in often, but if he did, he would often stay in his office, or go down to the labs to work on the projects with the other engineers.
His office had the same feel as the workshop back at the house, only slightly neater since I kept it in order most of the time. I went behind the desk and sat down, flipping on the computer. There were files open, and as I went through them, I noticed that these were shipping records. The first couple had Tony's signature on them, but the ones starting from a month ago had Obadiah's signature. I wondered why, since only Tony had the authority to sign off on those. Or I could, since I have the same authority in his stead. I read through the files, shocked, seeing the company's most dangerous weapons, mostly only sold to the military, sold to companies in the Middle East. I glanced at the transactions, sensing that something was off.
Obadiah was dealing under the table. To terrorists.
If- when -Tony came back, I was going to tell him about this.
Pulling a flash drive out of my bag, I attached it to the computer and started the file transfer. Halfway through, I paused it. There was a video file.
I clicked play, expecting to see a meeting or some sort of normal business meeting, but instead, there were some men around a bound man in a chair. I looked at the symbol above their heads. It was some sort of gang symbol, inscribed with Arabic writing. They pulled the bag off the man's head, and I screamed. Everything went black.
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I moaned. I was bent over Tony's desk; my cheek was pressed against the edge of the keyboard. I glanced up, the image still blazing on the computer screen. I gasped, not believing my eyes. It was him. He looked terrible. He had a bandage around his chest, and a large cut above his eye, but he was alive.
My control broke. I hunched over sobbing as I tenderly brushed my fingers on his face on the computer screen. I pulled my feet up on the chair, tears still running down my face. I pushed play, listening to the words spoken by the captors. They were in a language I couldn't understand, so I set the computer to translate.
"Obadiah Stane. You didn't tell us the target you wanted us to kill was the famed Tony Stark. Our price has just gone up."
I quickly resumed the download, leaning back in my chair. I would go back to the mansion and download the information into the computer in the workshop. I needed to tell Rhodey.
A/N-I am so sorry! RL caught up to me bad, and i had to go through finals. But im done now, yay! So I can update during xmas break. Review! Luv u guys!-K