Red Thorn

Chapter 6

December 2012

Tony Stark sipped on his piping hot coffee, scrolling through some files on his high-tech phone as he walked down a hallway to his main lab at Stark Towers, or as it was now known; Avengers Tower. The billionaire rounded the corner and kicked the door open with his foot. "Jarvis, hit the lights for me."

"Of course, sir," the AI responded, turning on the lights.

"Thanks, buddy."

Spinning around on his chair as he looked over designs for his legionnaires, bots that would be sent in to evacuate civilians during missions whilst the Avengers dealt with whatever threat they were facing, Stark caught glimpse of someone sat on the couch in the corner. "Ahh!" he screamed, his voice so high that it made the intruder laugh quietly to themselves. Stark relaxed when he noticed the familiar crimson red hair, though he was still scared of her. "How did you get past Jarvis?"

She shrugged.

"Jarvis, why didn't you warn me someone was in my office?"

"I am afraid my protocols were overridden."

"How did you? You know what, never mind." Tony stood and started pacing around his office. "I have tried everything to find out who the mysterious Red Thorn is, but I found nothing. Not even a single SHIELD file to your name, or alias, or whatever you want to call it." He stopped in front of her. "How?" She didn't answer. "Do you even speak English? The only time I've ever heard you speak was when you threatened Loki. In French!"

She pushed off her seat and pulled him into a hug, it was short and awkward, neither one relaxing into it. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad I am too," he replied, failing to find anything else to say as he struggled to understand what had just happened. "But never do that again."

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

Red went to leave but stopped when Stark spoke. "You know, Pepper told me that this young woman with red hair, sea-green eyes and a black mask visited her after the mansion was destroyed, wanting to keep her safe in case there were any future attacks. But Pepper being Pepper and so damn stubborn, she sent her away."

"I shouldn't have listened," she admitted, her eyes glued to the blade she was running through her fingers.

"Don't do that," he told her. "I don't know if you have family or friends, Rogers maybe, you two seemed to know each other before Loki. The point is you could have spent Christmas with them, but instead you spent it at my best friend's bedside. You don't even know him and yet you stayed by his side for days just in case whoever was trying to kill me went after him."

"I should have been protecting Miss Potts," she said.

"Did you listen to a single word I just said?" He let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand over his face as he did. "I think I liked it more when you didn't speak, at least then I couldn't hear you ignoring me." He was about to say something else when Pepper walked into the room, staring at a letter.

"Tony, I found this on my desk," she said, not noticing that her partner wasn't alone. "It's from the young woman I told you about."

"You were in Pepper's office!?" he asked, though it was more of a statement as he glared at the Red Thorn.

"Wait, who are you..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Red, instantly pulling her into a tight embrace, making the assassin freeze.

Tony burst out laughing. "Now you know how I felt earlier."