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kippykasey · 2 years

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Walk Away - Chapter 3: Polly Pocket Explosion

Pairing: N/A

Series Summary: After living in the shadows of her older brothers Alexandra Walker decides to walk away from what everything people expect of her and chase after the dream of working at Stark Industries. She wasn’t expecting everything that would follow after being hired.

Chapter Warnings: n/a

Word Count: 3027

Author’s Note: I feel like this chapter is a bit rough. Maybe too jumpy? Its more of a bit of a filler and background. The real fun begins with the next chapter.

Disclaimer: All gifs used were found using the tumblr gif tab. I do not own anything unless stated otherwise.

Walk Away Masterlist | Masterlist

Entering Pepper and Tony’s house without the usual greeting from Jarvis instantly was a red flag. Pepper was on a short trip for work and asked for me to check in on Tony in her absence. Heading down the staircase to Tony’s in home workspace I wasn’t quite ready for what I saw. Laying on the floor with a pile of what appeared to be Ironman suit pieces scattered around him with nothing but the helmet on groaning was Tony Stark. I entered through the clear glass door and walked over to him, looking down at the grown man.

“As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work.” Jarvis’ voice spoke out in the room followed by my own. “Whatever happened, blame it on Dum-E.” I clicked my tongue in amusement as Tony rolled to his side groaning.

Tony removed his mask and pushed himself up off the ground. “I guess 72 hours is a long time between siestas.” Tony comments in a hushed whisper, probably thinking it and not realizing he even said it out loud. I assume it was a fact that Jarvis earlier pointed out to him because Tony himself hardly remembered how long it was between bodily functions these days.

“Anthony!” I scolded using the same tone my mother used when punishing my brothers.

“Ah, Polly Pocket, what do I owe this visit to?” Tony pulled the rest of the helmet off looking over at me like he had been caught doing something illegal. I rolled my eyes, raising my arm to show him the takeout bags in my hand. “Happy is still out of town with Pepper so I thought we could have dinner together. After all, you probably haven’t had anything but coffee today.”

Tony nodded his head before the two of us made our way upstairs. Tony left an instruction for one of the robots to clean up his mess as he left. We took the food into the living room where Tony flicked on the tv the last channel that was on was the news, probably from before Pepper left. Tony stuffed a few bites into his mouth before he stopped eating, eyes stuck on the broadcast. The Mandarin had hijacked the American airwaves to broadcast a message to the public. The news was talking about it on every channel that Tony had quickly flipped through. His breathing was getting heavy so I stepped in snatching the remote away and turning the electronic off.

I quickly started up a conversation about the uses of his arc reactors, the best part about being so close with Tony is I got the inside scoop that guaranteed an A for most if not all of my assignments regarding Stark Industries and their engineering involvement. Tony also enjoyed talking about his inventions, even if he pretended to hate all my questions.

Later as I waited for my ride I looked over at Tony who was standing with me by the door. “Call Rhodes. See if he can give you the inside scoop on that, “I gestured to the tv. “ It might help. And get some sleep Tony.” Tony rolled his eyes at me as he ruffled my hair. “Yeah, get home safely Barbie.” He pulled the door open and gently pushed me out of the house but I knew he would stand in the open doorway until I was in the car.

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“Where’s your badge? You have to have a visible employee ID badge.” Happy asked as he approached me at the front of the building where we were waiting for Pepper. I rolled my eyes and opened my sweater enough to unclip my badge from my blouse and move it to my sweater where it could be more visible, dramatically moving my hand around the now visible badge.

“Ey! Don’t be smart with me, kid. It’s my job.” Happy pointed his finger at me before his attention changed direction to focus on Pepper who had now appeared.

Happy began to talk to Pepper about the robots that Tony had in the basement and how beneficial they would be to have at Stark Industries, instead of people. I rubbed my temple as I smiled at one of the secretaries bringing over a clipboard with papers for Pepper to sign then hand me a copy for our records.

“So you’re suggesting that I replace the entire janitorial staff with robots?” Pep was clearly unamused by the thought. “Dum-E can’t even move without knocking over things.” I muttered, getting a small glance from the strawberry blonde out of the corner of her eye.

“What I’m saying is that the human element of human resources is our biggest point of vulnerability.” Happy then moved then moved to Bambie as Pepper looked at him dumbfounded. “The power has gone to his head.” I told her as she gave the faintest nod before moving towards the man.

“Happy, I am thrilled to have you as head of security, okay? It’s a perfect position for you.” Pepper spoke in a very professional tone.

“Thank you.”

“However since you’ve taken the post we have had a rise in staff complaints of 300%.”

Happy’s proud face didn’t falter as he glanced from Pepper to me. “That’s not a compliment.” I tried to tell him gently. “That is a compliment. Clearly somebody’s trying to hide something.” I sigh, turning my head down to check my tablet, seeing a new notification.

“Oh! Ms. Potts, your four o’clock should be here.” I informed her having both of the older two look at me.

“Thank you, Alexa.”

“Did you clear this 4:00 with me?”

Happy, we’ll talk about this later, but right now I have to go deal with this very annoying thing. You are definitely joining me.” She looked over at me and I could almost see the plea in Pepper’s eyes.

“How so?”

We walked to the glass door of the conference room as Pepper whispered her response. “I used to work with him and he used to ask me out all the time, and it was awkward.”

Happy held the door open for us as he muttered how he didn’t like that. Pepper turned her attention to the man in a gray pressed suit with black button up and dark colored tie. He gave me creep vibes but I could tell he had gone through some kind of ugly duckling phase to get to where he was now standing, confidently in front of us with his eyes focused on one person only, Pepper.

“Pepper.” His greeting was simple.

“Killian?” Pepper herself seemed taken back by his appearance.

The man nodded his head. “You look great. You look really great.”

“God, you look great.” This man had gotten Pepper Pots to stumble over her words, something I never saw her do not even when Tony surprised her with lunch and flowers. I shared a private glance with Happy behind Pepper’s back and it was if we were on the same level of unease. “What on earth have you been doing?”

Killian shrugs as he saunters over. “Nothing fancy. Just five years in the hands of physical therapists. “Please, call me Aldrich.”

“Uh, you were supposed to be issued a security badge.” Happy mentions not noticing the man wearing one of the badges. Pepper turned to him, “Happy, it’s okay. We’re good. In fact I think I can manage this one on my own.”

“Are you sure?” I questioned just to be certain. “Yes. Stand down.” Pepper looks at both of us with smiles.

“We’ll be right here.” Happy says before we both step outside of the room.

Happy and I took a seat on the gray couch right outside of the conference room where we could watch everything happening inside. While he looks across the hall at some shifty looking guy reading a magazine pointing for a badge I used the tablet to work on some of my homework. Happy was still obviously looking at the man which by curious nature I would, subtly glance over to when I wasn’t glancing up at the odd holographic brain in the meeting room.

A quiet ringing came from Happy’s tablet, it was still pretty humorous watching as he fumbled to use it. He finally answered the call and I grinned hearing Tony on the other end. “Is this forehead of security?” I hid my giggle as best as I could with a hand. “What?”

“You know, look..”

“I got a real job. What do you want?” Happy questions as he looks over at the conference room.

“I’m working. Is that Polly I hear?” Tony responds.

“Hi Tony.” I say followed by Happy, “I’ve got something going on here.”

“What, harassing interns?” Happy lowered the tablet and I was able to lean over and wave at Tony now.

Happy gently pushed me away with a hand on my forehead. “Let me tell you something. Do you know what happened when I told peopleI was Iron Man’s bodyguard? They would laugh in my face.” Tony and I both let out an amused chuckle. “I had to leave while I still had a shred of dignity. Now I got a real job. I’m watching Pepper.”

“What’s going on? Fill me in.”

“Really, Tony?” I sighed.

“Yeah.”

“All right. So, she’s meeting up with this scientist.” Happy begins to explain and I cut in with a comment. “He gives me creep vibes.” Happy ignores me and continues. “Rich guy. Handsome.”

“Right.”

“I couldn’t make his face, at first. You know how good I am with faces.”

“Oh yeah, you;re the best.” I honestly couldn’t tell if Tony was being serious or sarcastic in that response.

“Yeah. So I run his credentials. I make him. Aldrich Killian. We actually met the guy back in.. where were we in 99? The science conference?”

“Um.. Switzerland.” Tony answered.

“Right, right, exactly.”

“Killian, no I don’t remember that guy.” I scoffed and smiled at Happy’s response. “Of course you don’t remember. He’s not a blond with a big rack. At first, it was fine. They were talking business. But now it's, like, getting weird. He’s showing her his big brain.”

“His what?” Tony was clearly confused.

“Big brain. And she likes it. Here, let me show you.” Happy raised his arms and turned as if to show Tony into the conference room but all he did was successfully add me into the frame and allow me to see Tony by the wine bottles in the basement. “Hold on, see?

“Look at what? You, watching them? Flip the screen then we can get started.” Tony points out. “Polly, help him.”

I reached over Happy’s shoulder to rotated the camera but Happy just batted my hand away. “I’m not a tech genius like you two okay? Just trust me. Get down here. Alexa, agrees that it’s weird.”

“Flip the screen I can see what they’re doing, she can help you.” Once again I reached over to help Happy flip the screen but he pulled the tablet away.

“I can do it! I don’t know how but I can! Besides, you can’t talk to me like that anymore, you're not my boss.”

“Look Tony, I’m with Happy on this one. It’s pretty sketchy. Not to mention there is a guy with him and he seems pretty shifty.”

“You two need to relax. I’m just asking you to secure the perimeter.”

“You know what? You should take more of an interest in what’s going on here. This woman’s the best thing that ever happened to you and you’re just ignoring her.” Happy was looking into the conference room where Killian was helping Pepper off the table and out of the holograph of his brain.

“A giant brain?”

“Yep.” I confirmed

“There’s a giant brain. There’s a shifty character. I’m going to follow this guy. I’m going to run his plates and I’m gonna.. If it gets rough, so be it.”

“I miss you, Happy.”

“Yeah I miss you too. But the way it used to be. Now you’re off with the super-friends. I don’t know what’s going on with you anymore.”

Tony made an excuse and quickly ended the call. I’m also quite convinced he might have put his phone into one of the wine refrigerators while doing so but I wasn’t quite sure. Happy looks over at me as he puts down the tablet. “Are you up to riding with me tonight?” I stood up and looked over at him. “Only if you buy me food I’ll join you on this stakeout.” Happy followed and we head out to bring Pepper’s car around so she could head home.

Happy made his way to greet Pepper and inform her that her car was ready while I sat in his car snapping a photo of the license plate to the vehicle Killian and his shifty associate got in for Happy to run it later.

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

Chinese Theater. That is where Happy and I had tailed Sir Creeps-a-lot to. Happy had yet to pick us up food, too busy on his task but I didn’t mind. I was reading through a chapter for school. The car parked and he looked over at me. “Wait here. Call Tony if anything goes wrong.”

It was calm for a while, maybe 30 minutes. I was beginning to grow nervous that something had happened especially at the faint sounds of screams. I got out of the car that Happy parked down the block and began walking towards the Theater where I watched Happy walk to earlier. I was probably halfway there when I fell to my feet and fell from under me as the ground shook, an eruption of fire billowed out into the street. An explosion. My ears rang, I couldn’t tell if it was the after effect of the bomb or the blaring car horns but my head wasn’t clear. My heart rate picked up as adrenalin began to pulse through my body but instead of running away I ran towards the site. My hand clutching the phone in my pocket. I don’t remember calling anyone. I remember the burning embers, the crunch of glass, the awful sickening smell of burned flesh, and I remember screaming for Happy.

I rode in the ambulance with Happy, refusing to leave his side. I don’t think I had left his side until I was pulled into someone’s arms. My mind didn’t fully register it. Doctors just kept saying I was in shock. I looked up away from Happy’s body in the hospital bed. My eyes landed on Tony, he just gave me a small nod and moved over to my side, letting me lean against him. I don’t think I fell asleep until the two of us had somehow curled up on the chair together, his hold on me reminded me so much of a protective father that I couldn’t stop my eyes from falling closed.

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰

A nurse came in to check on Happy moving right by the two occupants in the chair. It wasn’t until she raised the remote to turn off the TV that Tony spoke up.

“Hi.”

“Oh!” The startled nurse turned around to look at the person who spoke.

Tony let out a soft chuckle to try and clear the air and nonverbally apologize for scaring her. “Do you mind leaving that on?”

“Sure.” She responded but was confused since no one was actually watching the television.

Tony stood up carefully moving Alexa off of him onto the chair where she curled up even farther into a ball than what she was before. Tony took a few stiff steps with his arms crossed as he looked at the television. “Sunday nights. PBS. Downtown Abbey. That’s his show. He thinks it’s elegant. One more thing. Make sure everyone wears their badges. He’s a stickler for that sort of thing.”

Tony moved back over towards the chair where he gently shook awake the sleeping girl. It was time for them to leave and after what had happened Tony wasn’t about to let Alexa go home alone. They reached the main lobby where a car would be picking them up. Outside there were already dozens of reporters and camera men waiting.

“Keep your head down. Don’t say anything, just get into the car okay?” Tony instructs in a serious but soft tone as he wraps an arm protectively around her shoulders. On his cue they began to exit the hospital being greeted by people calling his name. A female reporter stuffed her microphone into Stark’s face.

“Mr. Stark, our sources are telling us that all signs are pointing to another Mandarin attack.” Alexa is pushed into and bumped causing her to grip onto the dark shirt that Tony was wearing as a way to anchor herself to him as he pushed through the reporters.

“Anything else you can tell us?

As soon as they arrived at the car Tony made sure Alexa got in ignoring the press around him until one thing managed to catch his attention, “Hey Mr. Stark. When is somebody gonna kill this guy? Just saying.”

Tony turned to the man and Alexa watched nervously from inside of the car. “Here’s a little holiday greeting I’ve been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn’t know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I’m not afraid of you. I know you’re a coward. So I’ve decided,” Tony removes his glasses looking right into a camera, “that you just died, pal. I’m gonna come get the body. There’s no politics here. It’s just good old-fashioned revenge. There’s no Pentagon, it’s just you and me. And on the off chance you’re a man, here’s my home address. 10880 Malibu Point. 90265. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

Alexa’s jaw dropped open. What the hell had she gotten herself into? Maybe John was right about being careful being so close to Tony Stark. He had just publicly addressed a terrorist, giving up his address, the same address as the place she was about to go stay at. Oh god, was this how she dies?

#john walker!sister #walk away #female original character #pepper pots #happy hogan #tony stark #iron man #f!oc

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