Little Miss Stark

Chapter Seven

You could've buried yourself this instant and luckily you could. In work. Natalie was right after all. You tend to be a workaholic but it was the only thing that really got your mind off things. After that embarrassing show, you pulled off in front of Stephen. Just thinking back to it made you cringe.

You had been the one saying 'I need to focus on fixing my relationship with my brother' 'we can still be friends' blablabla, and here you were sending mixed signals. You just hoped Stephen didn't take it like that.

After a while, you finally could fix your mind on your work and believed the worst of the day already happened.

Then, Pepper knocked at the glass door. For one second you were worried Stephen was back.

"Come in." You said, turning towards the door.

"Hey, so sorry to bother you. Can you come help me with something real quick?" Pepper said after opening the door.

You furrowed your brows, wondering what she needed help with. "Yeah, sure." You said as you followed her, leaving your lab coat behind.

She walked towards the elevator, pushing the button of an elevated floor. "Thank you so much. I have to tell you, this tower is a lot of work."

You smile politely and say: "I can imagine. How can I help?"

"You'll see." She answers with an expression you couldn't quite read, which began to worry you. What did she have in mind again?

The elevator stopped and Pepper got off before you. You came into a wide open space. One wall was entirely made of glass, giving you a perfect view of New York. There was a sitting space with long couches and a little more in the back a desk with those special screens you also had in your lab.

"Tony! I brought you a helping hand." Pepper shouted, and your eyes widened instantly.

"Good. Bruce, can you come hold this for a se-" "That's not Bruce."

"You didn't specificaly ask for Bruce."

"I thought I was being clear that-"

"Bruce is not here anyway at the moment" Wrong, he'd been in the lab next to you when Pepper knocked on your door. "and she's perfectly capable of helping you. Right, Y/n?" She asked you with a smile.

You knew she wasn't putting you in these kinds of awkward positions out of spite. She was simply trying to help and bring you and your brother closer. But there really was not need to feed you to the wolves, right?

"I can help." You agreed anyway.

Tony sighed and then said: "Fine. Come here." He walked to the back, through a little door, which lead to a narrow corridor filled with wires, pipes, and glowing buttons. "Don't touch anything."

"Got it." You answered shorty as you kept up with him.

Then he stopped in front of a wall. There was already a toolbox on the floor next to him.

"I need you to hold that pipe exactly at that angle." He demonstrated. "While I work on these cables behind it."

"Okay. Seems easy enough."

"We'll see about that."

You gave your brother a look but he ignored it as he knelt to the ground. You took the pipe and held it exactly as he had instructed. Soon he reached for the caples behind it and started to work.

Silence broke down as he concentrated and you wondered whether you should try to start a conversation or not. You decided to give it a try but regretted it instantly after.