Assemble (Book 2)

1.5

June 12, 2008

"Hello?" I ask into the phone. It was early in the morning in Athens, Greece where I was currently located. "Ms. Barnes. It's Pepper Potts." I sat up in bed and turned on the light. It was 4am in Athens, meaning it was close to 6pm is Malibu, where Tony was. Yes, Pepper called me Ms. Barnes. A total of 2 people knew that I existed. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. Pepper didn't even know who I really was. To her I'm Katherine Barnes, the unlikely female friend of Tony and just about the only girl on the planet who wouldn't sleep with him. "Pepper. I've told you a million times to call me Katherine." I heard her sigh on the other side of the phone. "Yes, of course." I chuckled, shaking my head. "What do you need?" I asked her, remembering that she had something she wanted to say. "You need to come home. Tony's gone missing."

______

I walked into the house, throwing my key on the counter. "Hello Ms. Williams. Do you want me to get Ms. Potts for you?" I hear a voice from above. "Hello Jarvis. And yes please. Except tell her Ms. Barnes is here." I tell him - it. "Yes, of course." I waited for Pepper after walking into the living room. I stood by the window, looking outside at the ocean. "Katherine. You're here." Pepper said, as I set my bags down on the floor. "Thank you for calling me." I tell her, giving her a hug. "Of course, Tony speaks very highly of you. I've never heard say so much good about someone other than himself." I laugh, smiling. "I could say the same about you Pepper. He's always talking good about you." Pepper looked at me surprised and I smiled. "You're more important to Tony than you think." We both smiled, then remembered why I was here.

"Do we have any word on Tony?" She shook her head. "We have nothing. There's no ransom, nothing. But we know he's not dead. His body was missing from the rubble." I sighed. That's not always good, I know from experience. But I lied, to keep both our hopes up. "That's good. It's better than nothing." We both sighed. "I'm going to take my bags up. Is it the same room?" I asked her, picking up my bags again. "Yes, it's just the way you left it." I smiled at her, mumbling a thanks as I headed up to my room. I sat on my bed, putting my head in my hands. I am not going to lose Tony.

______

A week later, Pepper got a call from someone named Rhodey. I stood by the phone, as Pepper put it on speaker. "Pepper, we found him." A sigh of relief came from both of us. "We'll be landing the helicopter in 2 hours." Pepper smiled at me and I felt my heart warm. "Thank you Rhodey." She said, hanging up. "Are you going to tag along?" I shake my head. "I'll wait here for him." I tell her. She nods, understanding. I wink at her. "Bring our boy home."

The door opened an hour later, Tony and Pepper walking into the room. "Welcome back." I say, stepping out of the shadow. Tony sees me and smiles a little. "You've been gone." He responds. "So have you." I reply, smirking. He tosses me the bag of burgers and I catch it, taking one out. "Pepper, could you give us a moment?" He asks her and she nods, leaving the room. "Where were you this time?" He asks, sitting next to me on the couch. "Athens. It's beautiful there." I tell him. "How are you feeling?" I ask. He looks at me, his face bruised and his eyes looking tired. "Clara..." He shakes his head. I sigh, resting my head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Tony. I'm so sorry."

June 22, 2008

I'm still in Malibu. I like to call it my vacation. When I was in Athens, I was on a mission, or a couple at least. I just keep adding numbers to my list. But it was good to take a break. But some people just don't allow breaks. Some people like to get in my way. I went for a jog, just something simple to keep me in shape. Yet, they didn't want me to stay in shape, apparently. Why else would they have stopped me?

"Ms. Williams. A word?" The man asked, as he ran alongside me. I stopped and took out my earbuds. "I'm sorry?" I questioned. "Ms. Williams, I'm with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division." I look at him and chuckle. "First, my name is not Ms. Williams. I am Katherine Barnes. And that's a mouthful. You should look into changing that." I tell him as I start to walk off. But he follows. "Clara Katherine Williams is your birth given name. And James Buchanan Barnes was the name of your boyfriend." I look at him, stopping in my tracks. "What do you want?" I ask him, dropping the facade. "I need you to come with me." I shake my head. "No." I tell him. "I don't know who you think you are Mr. -?" I blank, never having gotten his name. "Agent Phil Coulson." I nod. "Mr. Coulson, but I'm not going anywhere with you." He steps in front of me, not allowing me to pass. "I'm afraid Ms. Williams, you don't have a choice. We've been watching you and we know everyone you've killed." He whispers. "So if you don't mind..." He puts cuffs on me and then sticks a needle in my neck. Dots start to appear and I blink, trying to make it stop.

My eyes start to feel droopy and then the lights turn off.