Project: A Stark Winter

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gone

Eyes flittering open reluctantly, Tony takes a deep and tired breath as he rolls over and scrunches the pillow under his head. He had only just finished arguing with Pepper and crawled into the large bed as he waited for the nothingness of dreams. Sighing deeply, he waits for sleep to fall over him like a warm blanket, surrendering to the day's exhaustion. Mind reeling from all the implications of the disaster of this evening, Tony stared at the ceiling hopelessly. He cared for you, truly he did. In more ways than one he enjoyed the role of being your "father" in this universe, but hell if this wasn't the most difficult thing he had ever done. Tony worked methodically, looking only to logic for most answers, but you blew his entire algorithm of human interaction to pieces. In his argument with Pepper, he had tried to speak words to how his heart was feeling much to her upset. The two of them had crawled into bed brooding as the night rolled by. His eyes drift shut as the floating feeling of slumber begins to take hold of his aching body just as the security alarm begins blaring.
"Mother fucker..." Tony grumbles as he tosses aside the blankets and stomps out of bed in a huff. Pepper sits up abruptly, eyes darting around the darkened space frantically.
"What's going on, Tony?!" She yells in confusion over the sound of Friday's alarm. Tony tugs on a pair of sweatpants and fix her with a blank stare.
"If I knew the answer to that question, I wouldn't be getting dragged out of bed in the middle of the night now would I?" He snarks and shakes his head, pulling a worn band shirt over his muscular frame and heading for the door. Pepper scrambles out of bed after Tony, wrapping herself in a robe while she follows close on his heel. Once in the hall, emergency lights flicker in time with the blaring alarm as other inhabitants of the tower clambered out of their rooms in confusion.
"Friday, status report!" Tony barks loudly to the A. I. as he stomps his way to the elevator.
"Breach of security, Mr. Stark. Unknown origin." Friday responds curtly, much to Tony's annoyance. He presses the elevator buttons roughly but nothing happens. Turning on his heel, he storms down the hall toward the emergency stairwell.
"Emergency protocol dictates that all elevator shafts be stopped until the threat is neutralized. It is your-" Friday begins before being abruptly cut off by a grunt of anger from Tony.
"I know!" Using all the force in his body, Tony shoves the door to the stairs and stands back as it swings open to reveal a dark labyrinth of stairs, barely illuminated by the red flashing lights. Steve jogs up behind Tony and gives him a stern look urging him to explain the meaning of this situation. Tony turns to address the confusion and worry written on the faces of the team as he wipes a hand over his disgruntled features.
"There seems to be a security threat in the tower. I'll go up this stairwell and Steve will go down. Wanda and Vision do a scan of the building from outside and alert me to any suspicious movement. Nat and Clint, you go to the lab floor and make a hold point there. The lab contains....well a bunch of stuff that I don't want to fall into the wrong hands. Broody McBrooderson," Tony points to Bucky who rolls his eyes and scoffs, crossing his arms, "you go with Sam to the opposite stairwell and split the same as Steve and me. Everyone else, just wait here." Tony declares with an authoritative tone. The team nods sharply as they begin to break off in their various directions. Pepper takes a step forward to join Tony, but he holds an arm up to stop her. Pepper begins to protest but is caught off guard as Tony slips a comm in her ear and kisses her cheek chastely.
"Y/n is probably still sleeping after the day she's had. I need you to go check on her." Tony whispers against her cheek. Pepper leans into the affectionate touch, nodding her understanding.
"Be careful." She whispers, pulling his shirt into a fist and backing away. Tony smiles warmly and turns sharply to head up the stairwell in search of the threat as Pepper makes her way down the hallway toward your room. The chilling alarm rings out loudly in the echoing space around Tony as he shuffles up the stairs in the direction of the roof. He peers through the glass panels in the doors on each floor he passes, checking for any sign of trouble. As Tony rounds the corner to the next set of stairs he runs into Dr. Lee. She looks clammy and out of breath as her eyes dart rapidly in the dim emergency light.
"Shit! Sorry, Dr. Lee. There seems to be a security breach. Are you alright?" Tony apologies as his arms steady her shaking form.
"Fine." She mumbles, eyes staring at the floor as she shrugs away timidly from Tony's touch. He releases her and shrugs; eyes trained upward as he continues to search for the culprit of the breach.
"Alright, get to the common area. We are sweeping the tower now. Friday will let you know when it is been cleared." Tony announces briefly as he continues his jog up the stairs. Wordlessly Dr. Lee moves down the stairs and out of sight. Just as Tony reaches the roof, a low baritone voice sounds in his comms.
"All clear on the bottom floor. Swept the lobby and no signs of a break-in." Steve alerts the team, his confident voice carrying through the in-ear communication device clearly.
"East side roof is secure. Damn what is going on?" Tony responds gruffly.
"It's all clear in the lab, too." Nat chimes in, a clear edge to her voice as confusion and worry continue to rise.
"All clear on the west side ground floor," Sam interjects, alerting the team to his position.
"West side roof, secure," Bucky grumbles through the comms.
"Wanda? Vision? Status report." Steve inquires, a growing edge to his tone.
"I'm not seeing any movement. We checked everywhere." Wanda answers nervously. This wasn't good. Something had triggered the alarm and with Stark technology it was nearly impossible to be a fluke. Suddenly, a female scream cuts through the tense night air and into the comms.
"Tony!" Pepper calls, her voice sounding shattered and distraught. The team leaps into action to get to the source of the commotion. Tony presses his chest and the nanoparticles of his suit cover him quickly and he's off. As the breathless team arrives at Pepper's side, they step into your room to see Pepper kneeling on the floor, sobbing. She shakily holds up a bloodied shirt and brings her terror-filled eyes to meet Tony's.
"She's gone..." Pepper whispers, as all hell breaks loose.