Chapter Text
I really need this job. Like, I really, really need this job. I’m fresh out of college with very little experience, and my counselor suggested I apply for this internship with Stark Industries. I don’t know how I got it. I don’t even know how I got Ms. Potts’s attention, let alone how I ended up as her secretary; but, here I am, attending to Ms. Potts schedule, phone calls, and paperwork.
Today we’re visiting S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters again. I don’t like this place. It reminds me too much of my Dad’s old job. He worked for them back for them before they were S.H.I.E.L.D. Too many guns, too many secrets, too many nights where I never saw him at home. It made me twitchy.
It didn’t help that the labs smell way too much like a hospital. Have I mentioned yet that I hate hospitals? Because I do. I hate them a lot. Like, a whole, whole lot.
“Crystal, how much coffee have you had to drink today?” Ms. Potts asked me abruptly as I fidgeted behind her in the line for the metal detectors.
I couldn’t remember. Crap. One in line at Starbucks to get Ms. Potts her morning coffee. Another one at Starbucks. The one in my hand right now. “Three grande lattes.” I chirped back at her as I held back a yawn and tried not to rub at my eyes and ruin my eye shadow.
She sighed. That wasn’t good. It was never good when Pepper sighed. It was like that ‘I’m disappointed in you, but I won’t voice it, so I’ll just do this put-upon sigh instead and make you feel like a very small person-’
“I’m sorry!” I was totally not sounding like a five-year-old caught eating ice cream out of the tub. Totally. Wasn’t. “But I stayed up really late last night trying to finish your paperwork for this morning-” I totally didn’t need to breathe, nope, no air for me, “because R&D called last night and they took forever to get off the line and-”
Ms. Potts put up a hand to silence my rant, “It’s okay Crystal. Thank you for getting all of the paperwork together on time, and-”
“Ms. Potts,” she looked down at me, and I was totally not bouncing up on my toes, absolutely was not, “I really need to pee.”
Pepper sighed again.
It took forever, and I mean, FOR-EV-ER to get to the labs. First there was the metal detectors, then the retinal scan, and the ID checking, and the body search (that lady’s hands were COLD) before we even got into the actual building.
Then, there were the guards. They have to follow us everywhere. Like, everywhere. It sucks so badly, but we can’t get rid of them. I know, I tried once; he even followed me into the bathroom. It was creepy.
So, there are these two guards following us, who are at least pretty cute. I don’t remember their names though; their first name that is, flirting with the cute guard using only his last name just isn’t worth it. You have to figure out their first name first or else it isn’t a challenge.
Sometimes when we’re at S.H.I.E.L.D. we’re here to see Director Fury (his name is well deserved), but most of the time we come here so Pepper can yell at Tony for not being where she can find him easily. I used to think he hid out here just so he could annoy Ms. Potts (he would totally do that), but now I just think he has a total science-man-crush on Dr. Banner.
I don’t blame him. The man’s like a big fluffy teddy bear, all wrapped up in really nice dress shirts. Then of course there’s those glasses, and he’s so insecure it’s adorable and-
“Crystal could you hand me those papers Mr. Stark needs to sign?” Ms. Potts asked me, holding her hand out expectantly before we reached the lab.
I am a total goof-ball. Absolutely a goof-ball. I should have had these out already, and the stupid clasp on my briefcase isn’t cooperating and, “Here you are Ms. Potts.” She took the stack of paperwork without looking at it, and I dug around in my folder for the specs from R&D that were emailed to me last night. They had demanded that Tony – I mean, Mr. Stark – see them as soon as possible, and this was the soonest any of us were going to see him, so I needed to make sure that he get these before we left for the Board of Directors meeting that was scheduled for ten and probably wouldn’t get out until two because those old farts always talk too much, and smell like nasty cologne, and always try to look up my skirt when Ms. Potts wasn’t looking-
“Tony, I need you to sign these reports-” Ms. Potts started, making a beeline for Tony on the other end of the lab where he was playing with a metal rod, turning it around in his hands and flicking at some of the dials on the bottom.
“Not now Pepper, I’m about to try something.” Mr. Stark waved her off with a flippant hand and turned to Dr. Banner, who was curled over a microscope, occupied with something that looked really, really important.
So I ignored them, so I could put down the really hot coffee that was getting hard to juggle, and dug around for a pen in what I thought was going to be the normal five minute argument Pepper – I mean, Ms. Potts – always had with Mr. Stark every time he needed to sign something. Except, this time Ms. Potts started screaming, and there was this really loud roar, and then something was falling on me, and I had to put my arm up- and I was bleeding.
Oh god, no, no no no, I was bleeding, and this was not good.
Then, there was this big, green, FACE in front of mine, and I was screaming, and it was screaming- and it snarled at me- and I put my arm up to protect myself and, oh no-
Four big red crystals were now sticking out of that big green guy’s chest, and Pepper was screaming, and Tony was yelling, and all I could do was apologize over and over-
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I shouted, my arms going out towards the green guy, and then to Pepper, who was still screaming.
Tony was the next one to shout, “Pepper! Since when can she do that?!”
“I didn’t know she could do that!” Pepper screeched, and she had that panicked, almost-hyperventilating face she gets when Tony does something stupid, and I CAUSED that, and, oh god I was still bleeding all over the floor.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please don’t fire me!” I tried to stop the bleeding, I really really tried, but it wasn’t stopping and the green guy was still screaming, and those stupid crystals were still falling from my arm – and it was getting really hard to breathe, and I still really had to pee.
Suddenly there was more shouting, and screaming, and then there were more guards, and the green guy was shrinking, and suddenly there were all of these guns in my face. I couldn’t help it, I really couldn’t. I just started crying, and they were screaming at me to identify myself, and Pepper was yelling at them, and Tony was yelling at Pepper, and all I could say over and over was, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I really really didn’t mean to-”
“Ms. Lewis, you’re going to have to come with us,” cute guard #1 was looking down at me, with his gun drawn and I couldn’t stop crying, and my make-up was probably a mess, and I was still bleeding all over the place – but instead of sitting there in all the dust and ruble I got up and followed them out of the lab, and in an elevator and into this room with only a table and a chair and they locked me in there.
I wanted to scream, and cry, and curl up in the corner but what I did instead was look at the ceiling and say, “I’m really really sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t have me fired, cause I really need this job.”