CHAPTER TWO: Of Some Importance
The flight to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ was a quick one. They dismounted the helicopter as soon as it touched down, and Pepper watched in amazement as Agent Coulson transformed into the very image of aplomb. He straightened his tie and smoothed out his jacket as two agents exited the building to hold the doors open for him. They stood at attention as he and Pepper passed.
Inside, Coulson went straight to a desk and retrieved a badge; then he tipped his head towards a retinal scanner by a large door. Pepper was fast at his heels, but turned when the woman at the desk said, "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have authorization to go in there?"
Pepper fumbled with a response. "Oh, uh."
"Scan complete. Identity confirmed," a computerized voice chimed, and Coulson straightened again. He glanced over his shoulder at the woman at the desk and said simply, "Miss Potts is my guest. I will accept responsibility for her."
That seemed to effectively subdue the woman. "Yes sir, of course," she replied respectfully.
Coulson turned back to Pepper as the large doors opened, and he gave her a tiny, reassuring smile before leading the way. She had never really stopped to consider before what kind of position Agent Coulson had in S.H.I.E.L.D., but she was beginning to get the impression he was a man of some importance. She followed closely behind him, suddenly feeling a little intimidated by her surroundings.
As they walked, various agents approached Coulson's side, handing him files and rattling off a series of updates and briefings that consisted of language which mostly flew over her head. By the sound of things, though, it seemed like there were multiple attacks at various places around the city. She gasped as she recognized one of the addresses. "Wait a second, did you say 10880?" she asked in alarm.
Coulson looked over his shoulder at her input, slowly coming to a stop and causing the other agents to notice Pepper for the first time.
"That's Tony's address," she said.
"Yes ma'am," a female agent responded after a few seconds. The agent wasn't totally sure who this woman was, but Agent Coulson seemed to put some credence on what she said, so she obviously merited some kind of response. "Mr. Stark's residence was one of three locations which have all come under attack in the last ten minutes. We believe whoever is behind this is meaning to target Ironman."
The breath caught in Pepper's lungs as her hand came up to her heart. "Someone's trying to kill Tony?" she asked breathlessly.
With eyes glued on Pepper, Coulson bit his bottom lip and reached out to grab the female agent lightly by the arm. "Thank you, Agent Lester," he looked at her pointedly and forced a smile, "That will be all."
The small cloud of agents looked awkwardly back at Pepper, who looked as if she might faint, before following Coulson's silent order and dispersing. Coulson touched a hand lightly to Pepper's back, wordlessly asking her to look up at him. He smiled at her sweetly when she finally did, and his cool, fiercely calm eyes did a lot to steady her growing anxiety. "It's okay," he soothed quietly. "Mr. Stark was in Atlantic City. Remember?"
That's right. It had almost slipped her mind. Tony probably wasn't anywhere near his house. She let out a relieved laugh and nodded her head earnestly. "That's right," she said.
"See? Whoever this was, they obviously didn't count on him getting called away to that very important 'meeting'."
She laughed again. It felt like so long ago that she and Coulson had had that conversation, but he was right. No one had known Tony would be out of town. Pepper herself only found out about it a few hours ago.
"And whoever it is," Coulson continued, encouraging her to walk forward with him, "we'll get to them before they find out their mistake. You don't need to worry."
Pepper continued to follow at Coulson's side as he marched through endless hallways of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, his nose gravitating to the pages of a file as they walked. She was suddenly very grateful that Coulson was with her when the attack hit. She generally prided herself in her ability to stay calm when the rest of the world was falling to pieces, but she had very little experience with things actually falling to literal pieces, and she admittedly was not much of a fan. (The memory of the night Obadiah died was still a recurring sequence in her nightmares.) In that moment, with all of the chaos and screaming, the gentle assurance of this reserved agent at her side was like an anchor to Pepper. His confidence was contagious, and Pepper made a mental note to never underestimate the man again. This gentle, unassuming guy in the nice suits and disarming smile, he may look like an accountant, but he was a soldier when the chips hit the table.
And she almost plowed straight into that soldier when he stopped abruptly and turned in front of her.
"I'm going to need to ask you to wait here while I talk to the director," he said, gesturing with a small nod towards a dark figure standing at the head of a large room. It was clearly a command center of some kind and there were a couple dozen people all busily reading equipment and speaking orders into small microphones.
"Oh, of course," Pepper replied.
Coulson quickly walked to the man in the large leather coat and black eye patch and the two of them proceeded to have a quiet exchange for several long minutes. Pepper tried to stand out of the way as people came and went. Were all of these people working like this to protect Tony? There was something oddly touching about the whole image. It felt like a scene from Apollo 13, except instead of trying to bring a crew of American heroes home from outer space, this Houston command base was frantically trying to protect one man, her boss. It was almost enough to bring a tear to her eye.
Sure, Tony was obnoxious. He was offensive and self-absorbed and childish. But there was a goodness to Tony Stark that not many people saw. There was sweetness and sincerity that lay concealed under the pomp and devil-may-care attitude that the man projected to the rest of the world. Every once in a while, that shell would crack just enough that the billionaire's heart would just barely peek through; and over the years, Pepper had come to realize that it was actually a heart of gold. When she first came to work for him, it was the money that kept her from quitting. But now? Now it was truly the man that made her stay. He really needed her, and in a lot of ways, she needed him too.
And standing in the corner of that room, watching those dozens of strangers working so diligently, it occurred to Pepper that these people were different from most. Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't like all the other government organizations who were trying to get a piece of the Ironman suit. Maybe these people actually saw what Pepper saw, that Tony Stark was a man worth saving.
She was drawn out of her thoughts when she saw Agent Coulson turn around slightly and gesture for her to come over. The man to whom Coulson was talking was tall and intimidating, but Pepper tried not to let that commentary show in her expression as she walked up to the two men. As she approached, she heard the quiet remnants of a comment from the director, saying something about reminding the agent it wasn't "bring your date to work day."
Coulson was polite enough to blush as he extended his arm to her, welcoming her into the small circle. "Director Fury," he said formally. "This is Miss Virginia Potts, Mr. Stark's personal assistant."
"I know who she is," the man said indignantly. "And you thought it was a good idea to bring a civilian into my restricted headquarters?" Fury asked, eyeing Coulson with his only good eye.
Pepper inclined her head at the director's implied insult.
Coulson was quick with his response. "You'll remember that I had just stepped into a meeting with Miss Potts when the attack on Stark Industries began. I believe she is an asset and will be a great help in locating Mr. Stark."
Fury looked back at her, like he was still unsure. He took her hand in a firm shake. "Right. Miss Potts, pleased to meet you."
"Likewise," she said, faking a smile. She was good at that when she needed to be.
"Probably good of you to get her out of there, considering her connection to Stark," Fury went on, almost ignoring her presence now. "The goal of this little fireworks display might have been to eliminate Stark, or it might have been just to hit all his pressure points." He looked pointedly at the redhead before turning back to Coulson. "Get her to a safe-house and put Walters on a security detail until the situation is under control."
"Wait a minute," Pepper interjected. "Where is that safe-house? Because I can't leave the city. My company is in shambles, our building has just been attacked. Come morning, I'm going to have a circus on my hands, if they haven't already set up the tents, and who do you think is supposed to take care of all that with Tony gone?"
Fury looked at the woman with a sort of displeased surprise, like he had forgotten she knew how to talk in the past ten seconds.
"Let me take her somewhere within the city, sir," Coulson offered. "Somewhere safe."
Fury turned his glare onto the shorter man. "And where, exactly, would you suggest, agent?" he sounded like he already knew the answer to that.
Coulson inclined his head ever so slightly. "Let her stay with me. My apartment is secure and, as acting liaison to the affairs concerning Stark Industries, I feel this matter is, at least in part, my responsibility. I would feel better knowing that no one else was having to clean up my mess. If we need a security detail now, let me handle it."
Fury burrowed into Coulson with his steady gaze for several exaggerated seconds.
Arnold Gregsby, Pepper realized silently, That's who this guy reminds me of. He was the chief curator of the London Museum of Modern Art. Pepper had been given the displeasure of sitting through three meetings with him during an auction negotiation several years ago. The man's stare could cut like a blowtorch through snow, and the worst part was...he knew it. Watching Director Fury give Agent Coulson the stink eye at that very moment, the two stares looked almost identical. But to his credit, Coulson didn't seem shaken in the least, his resolve never budging.
"Fine," Fury said at last. "I'm going to let you handle this one. But I don't want a headache from you later about this, you understand?"
"Yes sir," Coulson nodded.
Fury turned away, mumbling to himself, "Got enough problems..." and Coulson turned on his heel, Pepper quickly following.
They exited the command center and cut down a different hallway. "Interesting how nobody asked for my opinion in all of that," Pepper mused aloud.
Again, she almost ran into Coulson when he stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to her with a mortified look on his face. It was probably the most expression she had ever seen from him.
"Miss Potts, I apologize. I should-"
Pepper laughed and raised a hand to stop his words. "It's fine. I think you arranged the best solution. Don't worry about it."
He looked relieved when he realized she was joking, but he didn't quite let himself laugh. He merely nodded at her instead. "What will you need to tide you over for a few days?"
The list leapt instantly to mind. "My laptop, my charger, my work portfolio."
"Agent Wycliff," he said, cutting off her words and catching the eye of a passing agent. The young woman approached obediently.
"Yes sir?"
"Are you currently on task for anything?"
"No sir," she replied.
"Good. I need you to run an errand for me. This is Miss Potts. She will be in the care of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a time and I need you to help her feel comfortable. She is going to give you a list of items from her work and residence that she will be needing during her time with us. I need you to collect these items and bring them back here within the next two hours. Understood?"
The agent's eyes widened slightly at the quick deadline, but she nodded obediently in spite of it. "Yes sir."
Coulson turned to Pepper, softening his tone slightly. "Just tell her what and where. She'll handle the rest." Turning back to the agent he added, "When she's given you the list, show her to my office before leaving."
"Yes sir," the young woman replied.
Pepper turned back to Coulson and gave her thanks, barely catching the small nod and equally subtle smile from him before he disappeared down another hall.
Sorry for the delay in posting. New chapter will be up soon!