Work Text:
It had been days.
Work piled up slowly, then suddenly quickly, an ever-growing pile of items you looked at, then pushed away because it took too much effort to get up and finish them. There were notes that you needed to look over, decisions that had to be made on your level before they could make it to anyone else.
Yet you couldn’t really do more than move from your bed to the office then back.
You curled up in the chair in the corner of your office, rather than sit in front of the computer where you felt like you had to work, had to get something finished. In your hand, your phone was warm from an endless scroll on social media, temporary distractions, and brief smiles.
The light was waning to the side, high windows that spanned along the sides of the Stark Tower — Well, Avengers’ Tower — letting you watch the dying sunset gracefully over the city for another day.
It was Friday, it would take you all weekend to get caught up on work, maybe even Monday too, and then more would come, as work did, items to land in your lap before it was shot off to Pepper or Tony or anyone else.
Your fingers tightened on your phone and you looked back down at it, guilt and sadness wrapping your stomach up in knots.
The sun had set by the time there was a little rap on the edge of your doorframe and you looked up, sitting up sharply in your seat as Tony poked his head in, first looking at your empty desk, then swiveling past the stack of papers and gaze landing on you in the corner.
“Vision said you were still here.” He leaned in the doorway, then looked back over at the stack of papers. Picking up one on the top, he flipped it back and forth, looking at both sides before sighing and putting on the voice he only used for mocking the government — “And though the Avengers have saved us — blah blah blah — We urge them to reconsider an agreement that would mean working together, rather than apart — blah blah blah — As seen in the events of both versions of the “snap” —“ Tony rolled his eyes, “God, I make you read this?”
You sat on the edge of the chair, glancing at the piece of paper in his fingers as he wiggled it around. “Yeah, they send those every month, since we don’t disclose who’s at the training facility upstate, the Attorney General has taken to privately urging for more disclosure between… well you, and the President.”
Tony grimaced. “I should pay you more.” He dropped the paper back down onto the stack and sucked in a breath. His arm was damaged, deep scarring all along the skin that poked out of his casual shirt — actually it reminded you a lot of Banner’s arm and Bucky’s left shoulder where his skin met prosthetic.
In front of you, Tony Stark leaned back against the edge of your desk and stared back. “So, not going to sugar-coat it, noticed you’ve been having a rough time so up —“ He waved his hands. “Up you go, pack a bag, we’re going upstate.”
You blinked up at him. You never went upstate unless there was a reason for a conference, the facility was private, only for members who were training or had high enough clearance to be next to current and future Avengers. You were just a media liaison, a body along the long line of people who eventually made things reach Pepper — and then Tony, of course.
“I…” You hesitated, glancing at him and then the doorway, expecting some kind of prank to pop up, mind hazed by the very real sluggish, depressed state that had overtaken you in the last week. Sometimes it acted up, this was one of those times.
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I hired you for desk work? To make you sit at some uncomfortable table, read a shit-ton of documents from interns and men in suits?”
You looked back at him — hired right after the second snap, while he was still in recovery, technically out of the public eye, but Pepper wanted someone who could look firmly and unbiased at all the highly confidential items before it crossed her desk and his. You had met the other Avengers briefly too, Steve seemed nice — Banner you knew the most. Vision did occasionally float through the tower and info-dump on you like a walking Google.
“I… I don’t know.” You pushed up from the chair, keenly aware that your outfit was rumpled. “I’m not sure why you did, I’m not very helpful.”
The feeling of Tony’s eyes on the side of your face made you look back up. His brows were pulled tight. “Because you are helpful, no rough week should make you feel like your work, your self isn’t worth it. This place wouldn’t function without you. Now go, pack —“ He motioned towards the door.
It had been an easy way to settle into the job, living on-site in the building was reserved for the highest level scientists, aids, and of course, there would always be the top floors for the heroes themselves. You lived on the floor below them.
“You deserve a vacation! Boss' Orders!” Tony shouted behind you as you slowly walked out of your office. When you looked back at him over your shoulder, he was picking up the pieces of work you had largely ignored and was slowly folding them into paper airplanes.