An Assassin Never Tells

E L E V E N

April 23rd, 2010

After picking up Mr. Stark's cheeseburger, we went to the press conference. Mr. Stark had yet to address me, so I decided to make myself know.

Ok, so I lied...Ms. Potts decided to make me known.

"Tony, the young lady in the front seat is Lilith Williams, I hired her when I got heard they found you," stated Ms. Potts.

"Mmhmm. Yeah, and where did you pop up from?"

"Conyers, Georgia," I began, "Technically, I'm from Italy, but I only lived there until I was about one, so..."

"No, I mean like which government agency?"

"Oh, right, yes, well, I'm from a legion of highly trained assassins, and Ms. Potts chose to hire me to keep you protected from the more...well let's just say dangerous things that Mr. Hogan may not be able to deal with," It wasn't a total lie, but a lie none the less.

Mr. Stark didn't ask any more questions, and soon we were at our destination. There were lots of people there, clapping and whistling.

Obadiah Stane walked up to the car and said, "Look at this! Huh? Tony!"

Mr. Stark exited the car. The two men embraced as Ms. Potts, Mr. Hogan, and I got out.

"We were gonna meet at the hospital," Obadiah began again.

"No," said Mr. Stark, "I'm fine."

"Look at you," Mr. Hogan handed Mr. Stark his cheeseburger, "You had to have a cheeseburger, yeah? Well, come on. You get me one of those?"

"There's only one left. I need it."

Ms. Potts and I head inside behind Mr. Stark and Mr. Stane. There were lots of flashing lights, which made me a bit nervous. Ms. Potts must've been able to sense my unease because she placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I was terrified the first time I attended one of these. They're a breeze."

"Thank you, Ms. Potts," I said sincerely.

"Please call me Pepper," she said, "And I hope you'll allow me to call you Lilith."

"Of course Ms- I mean Pepper," I giggled.

When we entered the room filled with reporters, Pepper and I stood at the back.

"Ms. Potts," I heard a familiar voice say. Both mine and Pepper's heads turned to the left quickly. It was my dad.

"Yes," said Pepper.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now," Pepper said as she turned back to face Mr. Stark.

"I'm not a reporter," said Dad, "I'm Agent Phil Coulson. I am with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful," Pepper said as dad held out his card.

"I know. We're working on it."

"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA..."

"We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?"

"Thank you," my dad walked over to me and said, "Can we talk?"

"Yes, of course."

We walked over to the far corner of the room before either of us started talking.

"So, Stark is your assignment," dad asked.

"Yeah, not my first choice."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I come from a legion of highly trained assassins."

"Ok."

There was a pause before I spoke, "Why are you here?"

"Fury seems to see me as a friendly face for the public."

"So you're like the mascot?"

"Yes?"

I nodded in understanding. My father always had a friendly face. Tourists asked him for directions constantly. I redirect my attention back towards Mr. Stark and see everyone on the floor.

I wasn't paying attention until I heard Mr. Stark say, "I'm shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction it should take, one I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country as well."

The crowd was in an uproar. Mr. Stane was speaking to the crowd, but I tuned him out again. I glued my eyes to Mr. Stark, trying to read his mind, see what he was thinking. I couldn't. Something blocked me.

—————

I stood with my back to the wall. I was in a room with an arch reactor and Mr. Stark. Mr. Stane walked in and began arguing with Mr. Stark. I still wasn't listening to what they were saying, but I saw Mr. Stark take off his sling. I stood up straight and said, "Mr. Stark, are you sure you should be taking that off? You could cause more damage to-"

"Relax kid, I'll be fine," Mr. Stark said as he began to unbutton his shirt. That action exposed a glowing metal circle in the middle of his chest. I stared at it quizzically.

Mr. Stane stepped towards Mr. Stark and said, "Okay? Okay."

"It works," Mr. Stark stated with a bored tone.

I tuned them back out again and followed them out of the building.

A/N: Hello again my darlings! Happy New Year! It's officially 2021, which means, if you're reading this, you made it through 2020 and I'm so proud of you. It was a difficult year, but you did it! I do have to apologize. I hit a mental and physical block, which prevented me from writing. I had gotten sick, almost like a stomach bug, which made me dehydrated, which gave me a migraine. Once I felt better though, I couldn't figure out what to write to further the story, so I tried to take my mind off of it. I roller skate when I need to release energy and frustration, but I don't have any protective gear. So, you guessed it, I fell and busted my knee. It's better now, but I couldn't think about anything other than the pain for a hot minute. BUt, back to the positve! Thank you all so much for the reads (ALL 200 OF THEM OMG THANK YALL SO MUCH I SWEAR) and votes! I love you all so much! :) <3