Lamborghini | Tony Stark

THIRTY SIX - LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR

One month had passed since the party. Sasha was back at work full time after proving herself on a number of internal cases, now heading up a case with a court date set for just three weeks time.

Tony was living back at his own place with the couple spending occasional evenings in the week together, as well as weekends when they had the chance.

At first, it felt strange for Sasha to come home to an empty, quiet apartment, however it made her begin to feel more normal, slowly falling back into the routine of how her life was before that day on Brooklyn Bridge.

Tony was busy with work a lot more after moving back to the Stark Tower, feeling comfortable leaving Sasha alone after she'd been working properly for a while. He was in Europe with a handful of the team and had been for the past week. Sasha had questioned the sudden increase in work, but Tony had told her not to worry, though that was near enough impossible.

It was a Wednesday evening when Sasha got a knock at her door. She had just made it home from the gym and was about to start cooking dinner when she was interrupted, turning down the music coming from the TV before unlocking the door.

"Sean, hey."

Her neighbour was stood in the doorway with a shy smile on his face, a redness in his cheeks and his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. Sasha noticed his hair had been trimmed, his curls far shorter than she remembered them being and a healed scar just above his temple.

"Sorry to bother you, I was cooking dinner and realised I didn't have any oil. You wouldn't happen to be able to spare any, would you? You'd be doing me a huge favour."

"Of course, come in."

Sasha stepped aside and let Sean into her apartment, closing the door behind him. She headed over to the kitchen while Sean wandered around the open plan living and dining space, peering at every photograph and piece of art on the wall.

He eventually joined Sasha in the kitchen, his hands still in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels, humming along quietly to the jazz music mellowing in the background.

Sasha was bent down with her head in a cupboard next to the oven when she called out to Sean.

"How much do you need? You can take whatever's left if that's easier, I have another bottle. Is there anything else you need?"

"Nothing else," Sean said, clearing his throat while Sasha dug through the cupboard to reach a half-empty bottle of oil, "Just that hard drive Tony Stark left here."

Sasha froze, crouched down on the ground with one hand on the corner of the kitchen cabinet and the other on the edge of the countertop, her heart still and her mouth suddenly dry.

She heard the clicking of a gun, swallowing once as she attempted to decide what the right thing to do was, though her hands became weak and she found no strength to pull herself to her feet, her mind unable to think clearly and her eyes seeing but not registering the world in front of her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sasha was pulled to her feet abruptly with one hand pinned behind her back, twisted at an agonising angle with the barrel of a black handgun pressing against the side of her head, forcing her to wince at the pressure.

"I know it's here," Sean whispered into her ear, the warmth of his breath and harshness of his hand wrapped around her wrist made her stomach turn, "Tell me where it is and this will all be so much easier."

"I don't know," Sasha gasped, breathing heavily as he forced her arm further, her back arching in retaliation as she attempted to struggle but was ultimately held in place by his strength and her own fear, "He doesn't tell me anything, I don't know, I swear."