18 | an enroute planner






𝐒.𝐇.𝐈.𝐄.𝐋.𝐃. π‡π„π‹πˆπ‚π€π‘π‘πˆπ„π‘


ELEANOR


β–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒ






From Maria Hill's insignificant glance my way, I could tell how much she despised me. I was the last thing to be threatened about my when a businessman come killer was on the loose, planning to strike the three, chief Stark facilities throughout the world. And that so-called killer was my ex. Talk about tension.Β 


'So, this Zeke Stane,' she lengthened out as she swiftly paced in front of me to the Quinjet on the hangar. 'What is he, your ex?'


'Um, yes,' I bit on my lip, hoping to clear out the unwanted facts in that sentence. I strayed my gaze on my feet and hoping to shroud the blazing blush that started to colour my cheeks. 'I mean, he had zero sanity left in him by the time I realizedβ€”'


'I didn't ask for specifics,' she rolled her eyes. I ignored her comment with a scoff. I tried to catch up to her fast footfalls, my eyes in awe at the span of the aircraft and the setting inside. It was dark except for the cockpit area, but in the air with reflective panels all over it would be barely noticeable. As I walked in, I felt the low hum of the rotors under my feet and Lincoln seated at the entrance, scrolling through a tablet in his hands. I could see the light blue electricity travelling through his fingertips as he did, glitching the screen at which I couldn't help but giggle at.


'Eleanor,' he greeted with a kind smile as he spotted Maria and I approach. 'Not the best of times to meet again.'


I agreed, stretching my arm out to shake his hand lightly. 'Guess not. I suppose you'll be flying Tony and me?'


'I don't think Iron Man needs a ride, Elle,' he said, nipping his lip to conceal laughter. 'Just us.'


'Sounds,' I tried to search for a proper word, 'fun.'


'Eleanor,' he deserted the tablet at a seat nearby and closed the distance between until I was looking up at him in confusion, 'I wanted to say that Iβ€”'


'Hey Sparky,' I heard a lowly mechanized voice vocalize from behind me, making me jump out of my skin. The Iron Man armour stood valiantly in front of me, polished to perfection and turning heads around the garage. The gears around his joints whirred as he moved up the ramp, standing at a domineering foot taller than both of us.Β 


'You better be on the last name basis with my inamorata when I get back.'


'Mr. Stark. I uh,' Lincoln cleared his throat with a discerning shake of his head, backing away with another co-pilot who got on board. Clearly intimidated. I shot his armour a warning glare at his sudden outbreak of resentment.Β 


'Way to make things straight, Stark.'


'That didn't apply to us,' he joked. He tapped a finger over his reactor and pointed to mine with an okay hand gesture. 'All good up there?'


'I'm fine and I can take care of myself,' I mumbled to his armour for what felt like the nth time, feeling a bit awkward. Rhodey and Tony had to understand that I wasn't an incapable schoolgirl - I was was a woman who could find her way own way out.Β 


I rapped a fist over his helmet with a smile, motioning for him to open up. 'Knock, knock.'


'Okay, let's set some ground rules around here,' he suggested, the mask disappearing at the back of his neck in a sporadic alignment of panels. I guessed the nanotech suit was still a work-in-progress after Taiwan, my lips raising in a deriding look. He wore a cool mask, his eyebrows lifted up in obviousness. 'You're staying here. Where you can't be harmedβ€”'


'What?! No, no, you can notβ€”'


He made a zipping motion with his fingers. 'No negotiations. Nada.'


'Know something?' I protested. folding my arms underneath my chest to prove my point. 'Fuck you and your sexual oppression.'


His lips pressed into a thin line. 'Mm, is it dirty if I said you did? And I'm not oppressing anyone. It's not safe for Elle - who's fresh out of electromagnetic modding to be in a bombsiteΒ !'Β 


'You need me out there,' I opted to ignore his lewd comment, clenching my teeth in a low snarl. 'He won't lay a finger on me and that's an upper hand.'


His hands drifted to my jaw, his metal suit fingers carefully gentle as he moved my chin to the side to zero in on the healing burn scar that Zeke had given me weeks ago. When he scrutinized it, I could almost feel the flame start to come ablaze again. 'Totally trusting you on that one.'


I slapped his hands away with a raw force, hurting myself on the metal bannisters in the process. Misremembering to conceal my groan in front of an atypical Tony, I cradled my wrist at the spot where I'd bruised myself and moaned under my breath. It hurt like a bitch just to lovetap the armour. I actually commiserated Zeke at that momentβ€”he was in for a good kicking.


'Yep,' he nodded. 'Clearly staying.'


Before I could call out his bullshit, I felt an ingenious idea strike me and my motions freezing on spot. My mind started to defocus as I slipped on a faux smirk and patted the side of his cheek. His expression started to fall as I tipped my chin in a raucous manner, hoping to establish the fact that I had admitted to his remark.


'Okay,' I murmured, patting harder on his cheek as he winced. I waved to the Quinjet ahead and grinned larger. 'You do you.'


'Always,' he said dubiously, walking back past me and closer to the cockpit. As if he had neglected something, he walked back to me and pressed his lips against mine promptly I almost didn't catch it.Β  'Good luck smooch. I'll need it.'


'Take off in a minute,' Maria ordered out as she walked up to the ramp behind Tony, thickening my chances of my strategic plan going right. She gave me a curt nod to my utter shock, to which I reacted with a small wave.


'Miss Preece,' I heard a soft voice call out from behind me. My gaze locked onto Cal Quinn's sombre one, her hazel eyes giving me warmth. She lifted her lips into a smile.Β 


'Hey Cal,' I sighed, walking towards her. 'You didn't take the jet back home?'


'I couldn't leave you here all by yourself,' she shrugged. I let out a small chuckle. 'I think Mr Stark's right.'


'Mr Stark does not know what the hell he's on about,' I rolled my eyes. My gaze zeroed on the phone in her clutch, my mind formulating a quick plan.Β 


'Hey, Calβ€”I need your phone.'


When the Quinjet took off with its unnoticeable blades cutting through the air and off of the strip in seconds, the unproductive buzz in my head ceased. My phone-a-friend options were justly narrowed but I picked the best of two as I pulled out Tony's phone from my pocket, pressing it to my ear. I forced my belief on fate, praying Tony wasn't tapping into this call and bringing my plan to turmoil.


'Hi, Pepper. Guess who?'








∞









π‹πŽππ† πˆπ’π‹π€ππƒ, 𝐍𝐄𝐖 π˜πŽπ‘πŠ


β–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒβ–ƒ






'I can't even begin to explain how neurotic that sounds.'


Pepper Potts was the most reliable source and my ticket out of here and besides Rhodey, who I could not trust at the moment due to his indelible bestie worshipping. She had a freakish knack for emitting sympathy so the situation sort of speaks for itself. But Pepper was on momster-mode at the moment, her fiery mane looking darker than usual with the nasty grimace on her face.


'Tony was being unreasonable, Pep,' I justified, sinking into the leather seats at the back. 'I'm safer here than up there.'


'And,' she smiled through the mirror above her head, 'I missed you, Preece.'


'I missed you more, Potts,' I laughed. 'How's the company holding up?'


'Frazzling. Tony's gonna get his ass kicked after this whole fiasco with the new Stane.'


Obviously, Pepper drove our escape vehicle down the crowded streets of Long Island, heading straight for the Stark facility that was few roads ahead. I had explained the situation, breaking it down to nuts and bolts, along with show-and-tell of the mystery prize buried into my chest. I knew I could trust Pepper to do a risky jobβ€”she had successfully snuck me out the helicarrier just as she arrived a few minutes after Tony's departure, her eyes almost rolling out her sockets as she spotted me and whisper-yelling at me about how much of an idiot I was.


'I can see why you're safer here,' she mused sarcastically, looking at me through the rear-view mirror. I scowled back. 'Why bring me into this?'


I raised my brows. 'I needed a ride.'


'The colonel?'


'You mean potential snitch?'


'Ah,' she hummed out. 'So I was the scapegoat. But hey, I get to save a few thousand lives so why not?'


'That's the spirit!'


Pepper stepped on the accelerator as the streets cleared up, the signal switching to a green-light. I lurched to the front due to my lack of seatbelt, nearly toppling over the gear and shooting the hostess a sheepish smile. Her green eyes settled on the reactor for a moment and flit back to the road.


'Relax, Pep. I'm not going to blow.'


'I would neverβ€”'


'Eyes on the road,' I drawled out as we approached the unmissable skyline of only modish, shiny high-rises as the road got to a close. Pepper had leaned her head up as did I, a sound of awe leaving my mouth.


'It's like a Stark tech-city,' I said under my breath. 'How are going to find him in this mess?'


'Elle,' she sighed. 'Do you know who I am?' Just as I opened my answer her question she piped up with a scowl. 'It was rhetorical. Just shut up and follow me.'


She pulled up on the sidewalk, slamming the door shut as she suavely walked through the asphalt that rolled into the tech-savvy estate.Β  I caught up quickly beside her, watching her large red curls bounce with her every clacking step forward.Β 


Pepper's gaze was set on the first building on the right which flaunted a glass dome-like structure at the very top and thin tower elongating from the centre. It gave me the Taipei 101 tower vibes, my eyes reeling back to the tall automated doors that slid open as Pepper and I neared them. I shuffled closer, self-concerned that I wasn't dressed for the occasion. I wore some pants, a tee, and a coat all a favour of Miss Potts herself. They were mismatched and my focus was brought back to the sight in front of me as a small, balding man in thick frames of specs walked from the fringes of visions.


'Miss Potts,' he said formally. 'A surprise to see you here.'


'We are issuing code-black to this facility, Mr Pine,' she said in an intrusive tone. 'Forgive me for being curt. But this is not a drill, we need every employee, civilian, and contractor at a minimum safe distance asap.'


His eyes rounded with shock. 'But Director Stark hasn't announced ordersβ€”'


'I'm in charge around here,' she said, sternly. 'So you better get the news out there before you lose your job or better yet, your life. Stark facilities around the globe are closed for business worldwide.'


This was why I called Pepper in the first place. She was a badass.






∞






[ w/n: uh, did someone say Pepper Potts? Yep, she's here folks, she's HERE! ]




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